Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
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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...
Did he or didn’t he? Only David Bryant knows for sure if he attended that Municipal League training last month. Bryant said he did. Clovis Mayor Mike Morris still says he didn’t and he wants Bryant to resign and pay back the city about $650 it spent on sending Bryant to Santa Fe. Bryant’s statement last week was not exactly clear about how much time he spent at the seminar. “I’ve attended every session of the program over my attendance at two separate offerings,” he wrote. … Huh? But Morris can’t prove Bryant wasn’t there. Nobody can, unles...
District Judge Fred Van Soelen of Clovis has until Oct. 1 to decide if the redistricting map that allowed Democrats to wrest control of the 2nd Congressional District will still be in place for the 2024 election. Recently the state Supreme Court sent a lawsuit filed by Republicans seeking to overturn the new map back to District Court, while also giving Judge Van Soelen guidance on what he should consider in making his decision. The order instructs that “a reasonable degree” of partisan gerrymandering is permissible, so long as it’s not “egre...
Don’t thank Hollywood for “Sound of Freedom.” The movie, about a former Homeland Security agent who goes to Colombia and rescues more than 50 kids from child sex traffickers, is an action-thriller – a drama. But it is based closely on the true story of Tim Ballard and his personal fight against one of the planet’s most evil and profitable criminal activities – human sex trafficking. “Sound of Freedom” was actually finished in 2018. But because it couldn’t get Netflix or a major studio in Hollywood to distribute it, it was independently financed...
Within American Christianity, we’ve seen the rise of “purity culture” in the last generation. At the heart of this movement are the best intentions. The goal was to keep our children from the devastation that results from sexual sin, including unwanted pregnancy and disease. Purity culture places a lot of emphasis on sexual abstinence until marriage. As a father who raised daughters, I did the same. One of my goals for them was to make sure they didn’t fall prey to charming scoundrels. Y’know, young men who are just like I was. Purity cu...
Did you know the region’s average high temperature was 95.3 degrees from June 18 through June 30? We exceeded 100 degrees twice in that spell, and hit 90 degrees or more on 12 consecutive days. Those are the numbers recorded at the Agricultural Science Center north of Clovis anyway. Halfway through our weather year, here’s a quiz: What’s the hottest temperature recorded this year at the Clovis ag center? a. 108 b. 103 c. 100 How many times has the temperature reached 100 degrees or more this year at the Tucumcari ag center? a. 3 b. 4 c. 6 Wha...
Last month, an Indiana chapter of Moms for Liberty, a nonprofit organization that advocates for “parental rights” in education, ended up apologizing and condemning Adolf Hitler after previously using a quote from the racist and anti-Semitic Nazi leader in its newsletter. “We condemn Adolf Hitler’s actions and his dark place in human history,” read a statement from chapter chair Paige Miller on the cover of the revised newsletter. “We should not have quoted him in our newsletter and express our deepest apology.” The group was recently labe...
What a welcome home. A topless trans person proudly flashing a party on the White House lawn. A mysterious bag of cocaine turning up in the West Wing. A news report saying that Hunter Biden was being investigated by the Justice Department for violating the Mann Act by transporting prostitutes across state lines – and being investigated by the IRS for writing off the costs on his taxes. Thanks to my wife’s job as a travel agent, I missed these latest national embarrassments by spending most of the last two weeks in sunny Egypt. Instead of wat...
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....
The “dog days of summer” has an extra special meaning this year. This July 4 weekend marked an entire year with SassyPants, the great Pyr, patrolling the grounds. While just a pup, she would regularly come down the road to visit. The giant fluffball would saunter down for a cookie and a belly rub, and an occasional hot dog. She also had quite a crush on the senior dog in the front, OtterPup; and just like OtterPup, we fell in love with the fluffer the first time she ventured into the yard. OtterPup had been pretty glum in the months prior to th...
After decades of aggressive and strategic efforts from influential right-wing forces the Supreme Court outlawed race conscious admissions at universities throughout the nation. It dismantled decades of progress and crippled the potential of racial diversity and pluralism at our nation’s institutions of higher education. Chief Justice John Roberts, speaking for the majority, argued that “the student must be treated based on his or her experiences as an individual — not on the basis of race.” He was joined by conservative Justices Clarenc...
Once again New Mexico is at the bottom of a list. “Kids Count 2023” is compiled by the Annie E. Casey Foundation with distribution and media handled by New Mexico Voices for Children. While it is not the report Rio Grande Foundation would compile, the 16 variables considered in do highlight issues regarding the well-being of New Mexico children. Sadly, like so many similar reports, the results are not good for our state. What is unique is the positive spin being applied by Voices for Children. As Voices for Children’s Amber Wallin recen...
The vermin that vandalized the Portales Islamic Center five times last month are probably not our community's high achievers. Statistics show they are not "focused on long-term goals (or) imbued with grit and determination," according to the Dolan Consulting Group, which provides training for police across the country. The research, according to Dolan, shows that most vandals are thrill-seekers, looking for an "emotional rush of the risk, and to lash out at authority. ... (M)ost are generally...
Have you been too cheerful lately? You might take the time to watch the Neflix documentary series, “Shiny happy people.” Seriously, you should watch it. I know some are warning against it: “Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.” Christians should never be afraid to look. While I’m at it, let me also recommend the documentary from “Christianity Today” magazine, “The rise and fall of Mars Hill.” If you’re a podcast listener, check out episodes 148 and 149 of the Bare Marriage podcast and hear the voice of a victim of so-called “purit...
Some of us remember it as the greatest football game ever played. Danny Villanueva was a big part of it. The Dallas Cowboys led the Green Bay Packers, 17-14, in that NFL Championship game of Dec. 31, 1967, that’s come to be known as the Ice Bowl. Gametime temperature was 15-below zero. The wind-chill factor was 48-below. One fan died of exposure to those elements. Players and fans suffered frostbite that plagued them the rest of their lives. Villanueva, the Cowboys veteran kicker, was the difference in his team’s lead with a 29-yard field goa...
Black Americans are a community of people that have endured abominable levels of trials, abuse and tribulations. Our experience in this country includes rivers of blood, mountains of sweat and countless numbers of anguished tears. As a Black American, I am descended from a people for whom the history of slavery, lynching, segregation, black codes, poll taxes, oppressive sharecropping systems and Jim Crow laws are historical facts deeply etched in the fabric of history. My ancestors were brought to America as slaves. I can only begin to imagine...
Barack Obama told a good joke the other day. He said he thought that the level of disinformation and misinformation online has gotten so dangerously high in the U.S. that we need to develop “digital fingerprints” so ordinary citizens can tell what’s truly true and know who’s not telling it. We? Did he mean “We the American people” or “We the politicians with all the power”? The ex-president of us all didn’t specify what government agency or allegedly nonpartisan public watchdog group he thought should get to decide what is the “truth” or ho...
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...
This is not a space that routinely applauds government intervention. If it doesn’t involve securing the blessings of liberty, government needs to back off. The recent actions of the city of Portales’ animal control department clearly fall within the U.S. Constitution’s introduction for how “We the people …” will consent to be governed. Nobody’s happy that city officials are planning to euthanize more stray dogs in a shorter amount of time. But we don’t need another Tucumcari incident in our communities. “People have been complaining about...
As if his political career wasn’t perverse and horrid enough, Donald Trump now holds the distinction of being the first former president in U.S. history to face federal criminal charges. Trump was arraigned last week on 37 separate counts over his handling of classified information, including willfully retaining national defense secrets in violation of the Espionage Act, conspiracy to obstruct justice and making false statements. Predictable, some high-profile Republicans have rallied to Trump’s defense. “Today is indeed a dark day for the Unit...
The Democrats and the liberal media were back in Trump Heaven last week. When Donald Trump was indicted on 37 charges related to the mishandling of classified documents, they couldn’t contain their joy or hide their biases. When Trump pleaded not guilty and walked free, the hopes of the permanently “Deranged Ones” at CNN and MSNBC were once again dashed. They wanted to see Trump put in shackles and leg irons and thrown into a jail cell for the next several years. During their saturation coverage of Trump, the unbalanced and unfair “jour...
I’m seeing an objection in short videos recently. It is an old Muslim argument, although non-Muslims make use of it, against Christianity: “Jesus never said he was God.” The charge is that Christians have wrongly raised Jesus of Nazareth to the level of divinity. We’ve made him our God, contrary to his own teachings and will. That’s the assertion. Part of the objection may be freely admitted. The Bible never records Jesus saying the words, “I am God.” (As an aside, before I address that in earnest, I’ll point out that Jesus is never recorded...
Seventy-five years ago this week, Clovis’ most famous athlete was settling in for a relaxing summer with family. He could not have imagined the challenges he would soon encounter. Jerry Nuzum had been away at college where he was the star halfback at New Mexico A&M in Las Cruces. Late in 1947, he’d decided on a career field. But first, the 1941 Clovis High School graduate was spending time in his hometown. “Mrs. Jerry (Mary) Nuzum and small daughters, Jerry Jan and Sandra, have arrived from State College, N.M., to spend the summer visiting in t...
Last month, the NAACP made waves for issuing a travel advisory for Florida in response to Gov. Ron DeSantis’ ruthless efforts to whitewash Black history and severely curtail diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. “Once again, hate-inspired state leaders have chosen to put politics over people. Governor Ron DeSantis and the state of Florida have engaged in a blatant war against principles of diversity and inclusion and rejected our shared identities to appeal to a dangerous, extremist minority,” Leon Russell, chair of the national NAACP...
Oil money, oil money. When you have as much of it as Saudi Arabia has, it can buy a lot of things – including a sacred American sports institution like the PGA. As all of us hackers know, the PGA Tour shocked the golf world last week by announcing it will merge with the LIV Tour, the upstart Saudi-backed professional golf tour that the PGA has been in a bitter legal fight with since last year. The details of the nearly $3 billion deal are still unknown. So is the impact it will have on the wallets of pro golfers and how much control it will g...