Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
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Valentine’s Day was this past Monday. Last year, I ordered a living plant for my wife online and then the weather turned really nasty. So the delivery was delayed and when the plant arrived, it was frozen. My wife still accepted that as a show of my love for her. I recall an account of a wife who complained her husband never said he loved her, although he often showed it. He reminded her he said he would love her through good and bad “until death do we part” when they got married and if that ever changed, he’d let her know. Obviously, the wife...
The date for today’s Quay County Sun is Feb. 2. I like to and actually need to get an early start on my articles as it sometimes it takes me the full two weeks between deadlines to write them. So, when I started this article, the 10-day weather forecast predicted snow for today, which means our local equivalent of a groundhog didn’t see his shadow and go back into hiding. I can recall when weather predictions were, at best, seven-day forecasts, and the reliability declined greatly after three days. But weather modeling based on historical rec...
When two of our grandsons spent a few days with us recently, we asked them whether they liked spinach. Both emphatically replied, “Yes!” While helping my wife with dinner by preparing the spinach, I started singing a version of the Popeye song I learned while young. Here goes: “I’m Popeye the Sailor Man, I live in a garbage can. I eat all the worms and spit out the germs, I’m Popeye the Sailor Man.” The grandsons got a kick out of that, and it got me thinking about this article and verses I could make up based on my thoughts. Then, I decided t...
New Year’s Day was just four or five days ago, and I suspect many resolutions already have been broken, especially those that had to take effect on Jan. 1 (for example, resolving to never have evil thoughts again). “Always” and “never” always should be avoided and never used because statements or claims including them are seldom true unless you’re talking about God and his promises and attributes (James 1:17; Joshua 24:14; Matthew 28:18-20; Hebrews 13:5-8; 1 John 4:8; 1 Corinthians 13:4-8). Even taking evil thoughts captive to conquer the...
Depending on how one views it, as of the date on today’s newspaper, there are at most only three shopping days left until Christmas. I remember stores posting signs showing the number of shopping days until Christmas as a warning that time and, possibly, inventory was becoming limited. The rush to increase sales and minimize year-end inventory through Christmas shopping is so great that the shopping season starts earlier and earlier every year. This year, because of projected supply-chain issues, we were encouraged to buy early, even at the b...
Christmas is upon us, and many of us are enjoying the holiday hubbub, especially as a release from the COVID restrictions that kept families apart for well over a year. Others, such as Martha, are so caught up in the mundane holiday preparations, shopping and travel that they’re missing out on the fun (Luke 10:38-42). We were returning from Albuquerque recently, and it must have been a good day for our grandson because he said he wished time wouldn’t fly when you’re having fun. He preferred that time stood still when you were having fun and it...
We’ll celebrate Thanksgiving in America this week, but the times seem pretty bleak right now with all that’s happening in our nation and around the world. I’m not just talking about political strife, COVID, empty shelves, natural disasters, or just plain evil. While evil will increase over time and take a lot out of us, there’s still hope it will all end and life will be better (2 Timothy 3:12-13; Matthew 24:4-13, 21-22). But this article isn’t necessarily about the present evils. It’s about how we should still be thankful despite all that’s...
I occasionally reuse themes or phrases from my previous articles without reusing articles in their entirety. To commemorate Veterans Day over the past three years, I’ve written about the increasing political and other strife in our country, and it hasn’t slowed down any. So what follows is much of what I wrote in 2018. Because I wrote about national strife/peace also in 2019 and 2020, I’m reminded of a preacher who continued presenting the same sermon. When asked why, he replied when people started doing what he preached about from the Bible, h...
Samhain was an important ancient Celtic religious festival because it was believed the pagan gods became visible to humans that day and played many tricks on their worshipers who were fearful and offered sacrifices and gifts of every kind were to counteract the mischievous, if not outright evil, activities of those deities. Probably rightly so, Samhain is considered by some to the precursor to Halloween, which will be celebrated this Sunday. The connection between Samhain, held on Nov. 1, and Halloween came about largely because after...
Winston Churchill said we should, “never give in, except to convictions of honour and good sense.” Giving in often leads to giving up. Our recently retired preacher taught from the Book of Hebrews about why people give up. The lesson didn’t pertain specifically to COVID, but the disease’s effects have led to a lot of giving up, especially due to the restrictions on in-person worship. The first step in giving up is neglect, giving in to matters contrary to our convictions (Hebrews 2:1-4). During COVID, many became accustomed to online worship...
My Sept. 15 Quay County Sun article was titled, “When misery loves company.” While the term usually means that people feeling down want to be around others who also are depressed for mutual consolation, another meaning is that when we’re miserable, we want others to also be miserable (e.g., “if I’m not happy, nobody’s going to be happy”). In that article, I listed many causes of misery mentioned in the Bible, but sin is the most common cause of misery in this life and through separation from God for eternity (Genesis 3:1-24; Romans 3:10-18, 23;...
Most people likely know the phrase, “misery loves company,” because it’s been used in various forms since at least 400 B.C. I’ve always understood the term meant that when someone is depressed for any reason, they want to be around others who also are at a low point for mutual consolation, which is one of the definitions I found online for it. An example given was that two friends had just broken up with their boyfriends, so they decided to go to a movie together. But I also found that it could mean that we want others to be miserable also (e...
Next Monday will be Labor Day, the national holiday celebrated each first Monday in September since the late 1800s to commemorate the social and economic achievements by American workers that led to the USA’s strength, prosperity and well-being as a world power. Without setting aside the American worker’s place in our nation’s success, this article is about America’s real source of strength, prosperity and well-being — God. First, God is our source of strength, which includes the ability to accomplish whatever we decide to do that’s wi...
In James 5:13-18, we see Elijah was a person just like us or like we can be. Elijah was powerful and effective in prayer because of his righteousness, but he wasn’t the source of the righteousness, and neither will we be. According to Romans 1:16-17 and 3:10-26, righteousness comes from God through our faith. Elijah was a prophet of God whose faith was very strong, at least most of the time (1 Kings 17:1; 18:1; 19:1-18). He knew God well enough to know that God would grant his requests, but he probably also had gotten the assurance from God bef...
In my July 21 column in the Quay County Sun, I wrote about Christians being wholly owned and operated by God with a network of other Christians, God’s word and the Holy Spirit to provide for our needs during our life on earth. To remain wholly owned by God, we must become and stay wholly holy — sanctified, sealed with his Holy Spirit, set apart to his purposes, and growing to attain the fullness of Christ (1 Corinthians 6:9-11; Acts 2:38-39; 22:16; Ephesians 1:13-14; 4:11-16; 3 Peter 1:3-11). As each member of the body (local congregation) gro...
I’ve seen advertisements for businesses that were wholly owned and operated locally. These are generally smaller, independent, family-run businesses that, although they make all the decisions based on the best interests of their customers and employees and bear all the risks of profit and loss, they also rely on a network of suppliers from elsewhere to provide their goods and services locally. Tucumcari has many such businesses, most of which successfully navigated and survived the COVID-19 pandemic. The whole world is wholly-owned and operated...
Over this past weekend, Americans celebrated that, for 245 years, we’ve been free of governmental tyranny. Throughout our history, we’ve continued to fight against one form of tyranny or another, either against another country or ourselves, the latter of which led to the greatest trauma because almost as many Americans died during the Civil War (the one against ourselves) than all others combined. After nearly every war, though, the wounds have been allowed to heal and the opposing nations have become our allies. While significant progress has...
My, how times are changing! Actually, they’re not, because there’s nothing new under the sun (Ecclesiastes 1:9). Kids will still be kids, but the mischief I got into seems nothing compared to what my grandson does. There’re a lot more opportunities for naughtiness now than when I was young. Two things haven’t changed, though, regarding mischief or naughtiness (let’s call that for what it is — sin). First, sin is usually fun, often in a warped way. That is, we sin seeking pleasure, but the kind we shouldn’t desire (Hebrews 11:24-26, 13-16; John...
Next Monday is National Flag Day, which commemorates acceptance of the American flag’s design on that date in 1777. Although celebrated for decades, Flag Day wasn’t a holiday until 1916, and it didn’t become a national holiday until 1949. In a 1914 Flag Day address, Interior Secretary Franklin Lane quoted the flag’s “statement” to him that morning as, “I am what you make me; nothing more. I swing before your eyes as a bright beam of color, a symbol of yourself.” Although this isn’t an endorsement of either book, for my devotional in 202...
Well, school’s out, and next Monday is Memorial Day, which often is associated with the beginning of the summer vacation season. First, congratulations graduates! The junior and senior years of high school and college are usually the toughest, but you stuck it out despite the pandemic that brought about traumatic changes in your educational process. Congratulations even more so to those who completed two-year associates of arts or sciences degrees, about three-fourths of which would have taken place during the pandemic. For all of you, your f...
I wrote recently about an Easter weekend sermon we heard about our talents or abilities and how God can use whatever is in our hands to accomplish his will. The sermon’s basis was Exodus 4:1-5, where God asked Moses, “What’s that in your hand?” after which God proceeded to use Moses’ hands, with and without the rod, and other people’s hands throughout the book of Exodus to show he could accomplish his will through people. I finished my article by writing about Jesus stretching out his hands on the cross to bring about our salvation and because...
For over a year, Americans have been advised to “stay safe” from COVID-19 by following recommendations and requirements to prevent the spread, including contracting the disease themselves. Now we have the vaccines, and my wife and I have been fully vaccinated for well over a month. So, we can now enjoy all the benefits, based on CDC guidelines, although the anticipated benefits are losing luster as more information is gained. For example, as we now understand it, the COVID-19 shot may only reduce the most severe effects of the disease that req...
We worshiped out of town on Easter Sunday and, although the Jesus’ resurrection wasn’t the focus of the sermon, that’s always the basis for gatherings of Christians on every first day of the week (Act 20:7; 1 Corinthians 15:1-8; 11:23-26; Galatians 3:1). Nonetheless, as I contemplated the points of that particular sermon, a direct connection to Jesus’ sacrifice for our sins occurred to me (1 Peter 1:18-21; 2:24-25). The sermon was about our talents/abilities and how God can use whatever is in our hands to accomplish his will. The preacher began...
At Christmastime a couple of years ago, I wrote about Jesus’ virgin birth as a matter of truth stranger than fiction. The Bible clearly states Mary was a virgin, as prophesied long before Jesus was born (Isaiah 7:14; Luke 1:26-35). Although she wasn’t a virgin all her life because Jesus had brothers and sisters, Mary actually remained a virgin until the sacrifice for her purification after childbirth at which time Jesus also was presented to the Lord as a firstborn son to be redeemed, both according to Mosaic Law (Matthew 13:54-56; 1:1...
While my surname is French Canadian, my maternal side is Scotch-Irish and today, March 17, is St. Patrick’s Day. The tradition of St. Patrick’s Day goes back to the 400s AD when Patrick began evangelizing Ireland after having escaped slavery there. He’s also purported to have driven the snakes off the island, but that bit of folklore likely refers to running off all the pagans he couldn’t convert. I wrote about St. Patrick driving out evil in my article appearing in the Quay County Sun on March 16, 2016. Today’s article is about his slavery. Bo...