Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
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Well, another new year has begun! It seems the years are flying by and, now, even generations, because I can recall my childhood and also have over 10 grandchildren. I remember during high school that teachers having their first child looked old, but now, even some teachers whose children are grown look like kids to me. A generation is considered to be 20-30 years, the average time from birth to child-bearing. But that doesn’t fit Bible times because Abraham was 100 years when Isaac was born, and Isaac was 60 when Esau and Jacob were born (...
My little sister, Margaret Grace, succumbed to COVID on Dec. 22, 2020, while in a nursing home in Hazard, Kentucky, near where we spent most of my childhood and she spent nearly all her life. While I knew her first name came from a longtime family friend, I never knew where she got her middle name. My father’s sister passed away right before Thanksgiving. I don’t recall ever meeting her because she and my father were estranged over her husband, which is really sad, but I learned her middle name was “Grace” when I read her obituary. So, I email...
’Tis the season to be joyful! Having just celebrated Thanksgiving, we’re now reminded we should be most thankful and joyful because of the good news of great joy that the Savior had been born (Luke 2:8-14). Jesus, the Savior, was/is the greatest gift to humankind for all eternity (James 1:16-17; Romans 3:23; 6:23; John 3:16-17). Because the Christmas season is the giving season, pleas to help the needy have increased. Also for about 10 years, we’ve had Giving Tuesday that comes right after Thanksgiving and soon enough before Christmas to not in...
America celebrates Thanksgiving this week, but things have seemed pretty bleak for some time with all the evil that’s happening in our nation and around the world. While evil will increase over time, there’s still hope that life will get better (2 Timothy 3:12-13; Matthew 24:4-13, 21-22). But this article isn’t about the present evils. It’s about our blessings and how we should still be thankful despite all that’s going on around us and that we shouldn’t let ourselves get so distracted by evil that we forget about God because he’s our on...
Well, over the past two weeks, we’ve had Halloween’s spookiness, the idiocy of falling back to end daylight savings time and local elections. While, as I write this, the outcome of the election is unknown, our state and national elections are becoming scarier all the time and our country seems to be falling apart at the seams. Halloween isn’t so bad, and our local elections give us the opportunity to personally represent ourselves regarding taxation for local improvements. Falling back to standard time, on the other hand, mainly just throws our...
Many people have put up decorations, told creepy stories, watched spooky movies and selected costumes during this Halloween season. Although not particularly Halloween-related, while going to church recently, one of our 3-year-old granddaughters sang the “Itsy, Bitsy Spider” nursery rhyme song. You’ve probably heard it, “The itsy bitsy spider crawled up the water spout. Down came the rain, and washed the spider out. Out came the sun, and dried up all the rain, and the itsy bitsy spider went up the spout again.” Often, children repeat songs ove...
Besides specific holidays, October is designated as the month of remembrance for many things. Likely, we all have special memories in October; some glad, some sad. For me, the month includes several special events – starting my first job after college, quitting smoking before my first child’s birth, my first date with Lisa, going to the Balloon Fiesta, and the births of Lisa’s mother and daughter (on the same day of the month) and my first granddaughter. Some memories should be kept; others are best forgotten. For example, because love keeps...
My wife approves my church attire. Recently, having picked out everything but a shirt, I asked what shirt to wear, to which she replied, “Cream.” As we loaded to go to church, she said my shirt was white instead of cream. I held something white against it and it certainly looked white. Shortly after we turned east into the sun, I noticed that the shirt was clearly cream-colored. So, I exclaimed, “Hey, when light is shed on any subject, the truth comes out!” Light is critical for many things. Light was the second act of creation after the ear...
This past Monday was Patriot Day. Like Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, Sept. 11, 2001, is a day to remember attacks on U.S. soil that led to a massive loss of American lives (2,403 at Pearl Harbor and 2,977 on 9/11) and got us into a war. Unlike World War II, after which we made real peace with our attackers, we never should consider peace with terrorists such as those behind the 9/11 attack. Rather, we must protect ourselves even to the point of personal inconvenience for the good of all and always be on the alert for more attacks. Terrorism is...
This year’s flying by, with Labor Day being next Monday. While shopping recently, I saw the store I was in already had Halloween candy for sale, which made me wonder when the Christmas candy and ads would be out. Then, I thought again about Labor Day and wondered if Santa Claus and Labor Day had anything in common. We usually only hear about Santa doing anything, like work, when he delivers presents overnight before Christmas morning. Completely encompassing the globe north, south, east and west is a pretty big job. So, he and his reindeer prob...
While traveling back from Albuquerque recently, our grandson reached into the backseat for something. Upon turning back forward, he bumped his covered insulated drink container. Because the container didn’t fit the cup holder snuggly, it made a loud clank and some drink spewed out through the straw at which time the automatic windshield wiper came on as if it were sprinkling outside. While that seems eerie, it’s likely when clank startled me, I bumped the turn signal indicator, which has the wiper control mounted on its end. I’d call that a col...
As with my last Quay County Sun column on July 19, this article is based on readings with complementary themes from books used for my daily devotion. One article was titled “The Holy Spirit: The Power of the Highest,” from “365 Ways to Know God” (Elmer Towns, Regal Books, 2004), and the other was from “The Best of the Bible” (Tyndale House Publishers, 1996) titled “Daily Life in the Early Church.” I’ve added some of my thoughts. The Towns article, based on Luke 1:35, emphasized that God is the highest authority/power. However, Jesus and the Hol...
For my daily devotional, I read through the Bible every other year using some reading plan and in the intervening years, I combine various devotional books to fit the same time allocated daily for my devotions. Occasionally, readings on the same day click, working together to make an excellent combined message. Last year, I used “Daily Discipleship” (Leroy Eims, NavPress, 1998) and “Devotional Talks for People Who Do God’s Business” (Warren W. and David W. Wiersbe, Baker House Books, 1986).” On one occasion, the devotion from “Daily Disc...
Happy day after Independence Day! With the de-emphasizing of the facts of our American history and heritage these days and that our nation’s greatest holiday falls during summer when most schools are closed, I wonder how many young people actually know why we celebrate with fireworks and why July 4 is a holiday (we should never have started calling it by the date instead of “Independence Day,” which states its purpose)? It’s sad but true that those who don’t learn from their history (or, worse yet, don’t even know it) are doomed to repeat it....
It’s June 21, the longest day of the year, although God made one or two days longer (Joshua 10:12-14; 2 Kings 20:1-11; Isaiah 38:1-8). In both cases, God looked to his people’s best interests and, in Joshua’s case, he increased torment for his people’s enemies. I’d bet the Israelites thought, “When will this day ever end!” after the all-night march and despite the fact they, or actually God, was winning, although I suspect God gave them sufficient energy to finish the battle. God’s battle for Israel against evil was part of a war started in...
First, my wife approved of this article. We attend church in Logan, and typical of many happy couples, I drive while my wife applies her makeup. Probably everyone traveling regularly between Tucumcari and Logan on U.S. 54 knows about the perpetual bumpy spot. I learned early in our marriage that to have fewer hiccups in the harmony, it’s my job to warn my wife about upcoming bumps so whatever makeup she’s applying goes where she wants it. The eyeliner pencil poke in her eye was more traumatic for me than her. Hence, when I noticed there’s a sin...
Monday is Memorial Day, when we remember those who’ve gone on leaving precious memories. We erect tombstones and statues to remember the great people in our lives and history, and since there’s little, if any new knowledge about history, we should respect history for what it is, learn from it and thereby move on to a brighter future. God is big on memorials for us to remember the good and the bad, and that bad can and will be overcome, so those who turn to the good will have the brightest of futures (Jeremiah 29:13-14, I love this passage as...
Springtime has arrived as indicated leaves on the mesquites, which also means that it’s planting time for summer crops. After the great flood, God promised that as long as the Earth endures, seedtime and harvest would continue (Genesis 8:22). For that to come about, God provides all we need to grow crops, including sunshine, rain, the seed and even the agricultural knowledge (Matthew 5:45; Deuteronomy 11:10-16; 2 Corinthians 9:10; Isaiah 28:23-29). No matter how busy we get, we must never forget God’s providence and generate a return on tha...
We were invited to spend spring break this year with family who live at the southern Gulf Coast of Texas. We had a great time, even stopping on the way there and back to visit with various other dear friends and family (also dear to us), but that’s not related to this article. To spend as much time as possible and be there for church on Sunday morning, we left early on Friday, March 17. Those, like us, of Irish descent, and probably many others recognize March 17 as St. Patrick’s Day, which we’re supposed to celebrate by eating corned beef...
I use all kinds of things as the bases for my articles. While considering this one, to be published on April 12, I heard Acts 4:12 read, making me wonder what the other Bible books had for chapter 4, verse 12. So, I checked that out. Of the 66 Bible books, 11 didn’t have four chapters and another four didn’t have 12 verses in their fourth chapter. Two of the latter books, Jonah and Revelation, stopped at 4:11. Because those verses are pretty neat, I’ve included them in this introduction. Revelation 4:11 recognizes God as the Creator, while...
I suspect most of us have survived and adjusted to what many consider the foolishness of springing our clocks forward for daylight saving time recently. April Fool’s Day is looming this Saturday. At least that only comes once each year, while the clock “foolishness” happens twice. We’ve all likely heard the saying, “Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.” Balaam’s donkey saved him from certain death three times before he accused her of making a fool of him at which time she reminded him she’d been faithful to him throughout...
We sprang our clocks forward of this past weekend to start Mountain Daylight Savings Time, and spring begins at 3:24 pm MDST this coming Monday. So we’re between the springing forward and the spring equinox. The recent changing of the clocks and the upcoming first official day of spring brought a few things to mind. That is, moving the clock forward means getting up an hour earlier in the morning and makes the day seem longer, at least for a brief period, because it gets dark later. Then, the onset of spring leads to an increase in activities,...
My last article was about Valentine’s Day in regard to maintaining our love for God by showing others his love for us all (John 3:16; 13:34-35). I also love the season of twitterpation that follows Valentine’s Day during the onset of spring. I’m not referring to the date of the spring equinox — March 20 — but rather the greening up as grasses start growing and trees sprout leaves. I recall when I moved to Tucumcari from central Kentucky in December 1996 that I came from green to brown. I was depressed until about March 1, when I looked to...
Feb. 14 is Valentine’s Day, which I love as a celebration of love. But there’s a lot about its origin I didn’t previously know. First, there are more than one Saint Valentine and the Feb. 14 holiday honors at least two — one in Rome and one in present day Terni, Italy, and maybe a third in Africa, although numerous martyrs were named Valentine. Some churches honor the different Valentines on different dates. The Romans martyred all of the Valentines for their acts of love and service to God by ministering to persecuted Christians. The Valentine...
Groundhog Day is tomorrow, or today, if your Quay County Sun comes in the mail and you live fairly locally. Groundhog Day is celebrated in the U.S. and Canada, based on European traditions about various animals emerging from their burrows and seeing their shadows or not. Apparently, the actual animal doesn’t matter as long as it winters underground because the traditional point was actually a four- to six-week weather forecast based on whether it’s sunny or cloudy that day. The accuracy rate of that forecast is generally less than 50% but con...