Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
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“Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division.” Nope, this isn’t the devil talking. This isn’t clueless disciples, or the haughty Pharisees who promise to bring division and not peace. It’s Jesus himself from Luke 12:51. What happened to “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” (Luke 2)? I thought that was a Jesus thing? Sigh. We just want peace. Peace in our world, peace in our relationships, peace in our own hearts. And we can easily, alarmingly see how division...
I was having a conversation with a good friend the other day, and he was telling me how life is becoming more difficult now that he is in his eighties. When he was young he loved to jog and walk a couple of miles a day, and now he can hardly make it to the kitchen. I’m about twenty years younger, but I can definitely relate to my body and mind going through some changes. I’ve always heard the lack of activity does not do us any favors as it seems the less we do, the less we can do. My mother is...
“Martha, Martha, you are distracted by many things” (Luke 10:41). Oof, if there is a convicting verse in Scripture, for me, this is it. I am distracted. I am distracted by the busy-ness of my schedule, by being a parent, by being a daughter, by making sure everyone around me is well-fed and content, by cleaning up the messes my mistakes cause, etc, etc. Distraction. Dis-traction. Great word: To lose traction. To spin our wheels and make no forward movement. To feel like we’re working and working (and working) to find nothing of value is truly...
I attempt to keep my eyes and ears open to learn about the Holy Spirit and human behavior. In my spiritual journey, the situations I’ve encountered through counseling and teaching have graciously allowed me to see the importance of walking in humility through the awareness of God’s presence. I’m not implying that I’ve arrived at a spiritual plateau where God and I float through the clouds together, but I do believe we can be as close to Him as we desire to be. To be honest, the more I discover a...
This September, we are examining God’s Playbook. We’re looking at the various choices and decisions that God has made preserved in the Bible. Plays God has run, that we would be wise to expect he might run again. When we talk about monumental moments in God’s plan, one of the moments that ought to make the list every time is God freeing his people from Egypt. Israel had grown from 12 brothers into an entire nation; but in the process, they had become slaves of Egypt. Then God sends Moses to perform 10 of the most dramatic miracles in the Bi...
There is much to be desired when it comes to spending time alone. It’s only been in the last few years that the floodgates of voices have been opened to everyone at any time. Yes, we can see there have been written scrolls from thousands of years ago, and books were printed around the year 1200, but this information was not widely circulated. Through the years printing continued to expand and when newspapers became available, the masses were given a new realm that would inspire and inf...
This September, we are examining God’s Playbook. We’re looking at the various choices and decisions that God has made preserved in the Bible. Plays God has run, that we would be wise to expect he might run again. Mark 5:19 might be one of the most disregarded verses in the Bible. Verses 1-18 tells the story of a man who Jesus freed from a particularly destructive demon. I’m sure many of us know the story of the demon who called himself “Legion.” He tortured the poor man until he lived alone in tombs, screaming and cutting himself. That is,...
Christians are accountable to love and pray for their family, and friends, and against evil everywhere, but unfortunately, many have lost the enthusiasm and the burden to ask God to set them on fire for His glory. If Christian leadership is afraid to declare war against Satan and evil strongholds and principalities, how can they be inspired or have the faith to become a living sacrifice for God? When there is no difference between a spiritually blind world and those who claim to be God’s front-l...
This September, we are examining God’s Playbook. We’re looking at the various choices and decisions that God has made preserved in the Bible. Plays God has run, that we would be wise to expect he might run again. If you open your Bibles to the very first page of the New Testament, what you’ll find is a list of names. Matthew chapter 1 begins with the genealogy of Jesus, the Messiah. In that list you’ll find some absolute studs. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, Hezekiah, and Josiah, to name a few of the absolute rock stars of God-followers you’ll...
As a Christian faith writer, I am blessed with God providing me with spiritual insights and considerations to relay to others. He creates opportunities for me to share, however, what I do is not anything more special than how millions of other Christians are serving Him, and I humbly acknowledge that most are more talented and effective than myself. I’m just a small piece of a large puzzle, one voice among many who is pointing toward the one who has all authority, who created everything, and k...
We will never rise above or go beyond what we believe and what we speak. It’s a spiritual revelation to comprehend that words have power and where there is privilege there is also responsibility. I realize that we have much to pray about, but this request is crucial if we are to live a holy life of integrity and respect. “Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips,” Psalm 141:3. Since what we say is what we think, it would be wise to monitor what we listen to and w...
This September, we are going to be examining a few of God’s plays in his playbook. When a football coach goes into a game, he enters with a playbook. As I understand it, a playbook is a collection of the plays that he can call during the game. These plays are in his book either because he likes them, or because his team is particularly good at them, or he likes to keep some surprises up his sleeve. Whatever the reason, whether he coaches 10 years or 40 years, those are the plays fans will likely see over and over. Similarly, God has p...
Greetings dear friends in Christ. I think that for many, if not most, August is not a month where we look both backward and forward. January 1, New Year's Day would seem more appropriate for that kind of thing. With the beginning of a new year, we think of resolutions to make and eventually break. After all, nobody actually keeps a New Year's resolution. Maybe, as individuals we might use a birthday or anniversary as a time of reflection. But August? The end of August? Why would we choose now for that type of thinking? I'm thinking it is a grea...
God has been stirring me for the last several years to realize there are many levels in our relationship with Him and that we are to be continually progressing through the stations of the tabernacle on our way to the holy of holies. He desires to give everyone a personal revelation to become more spiritually sensitive, to hear His voice, along with His wisdom to know what is right and wrong. To develop an awareness of His presence, we must invest our time meditating on His word, praying, and int...
Do not fear. Fear Not. Do not be afraid. All these commands are found in the bible. The angel Gabriel appeared to Mary, a young Jewish virgin girl, and announced that she was to become the mother of our Savior. He tells her to not be afraid. It is certainly understandable that when all of a sudden, an archangel from God appears and starts talking to us, who wouldn’t be afraid? Joseph is visited by an angel in a dream and is told that he is not to be afraid to continue his betrothal to Mary even though she is with child. She had not been u...
The path to victory was never promised to be an easy one. It’s filled with faith blended with hard work, persistence, and a passion to follow God’s directions. What type of victory are you referring to? The only success and accomplishment that has eternal value is when we follow and accomplish God’s will. So, what is this? Well, there is His general will which includes His written word that is given to help us learn how to live for Him. There is also His specific will where God has desig...
Follow is an appropriate word for today. For most of the summer it has been an appropriate word for those who have to drive on Highway 281 between Sheyenne and New Rockford. I would imagine that like me, it is getting very tiresome for all of us sitting in our vehicles waiting for that pilot car with the sign on the back that says “Follow Me.” I recall times when I had friends or family visiting when I was living in Minneapolis or Denver and we would be going out to eat or to a ball game or whatever. There were too many of us to go in one car...
August is here. Where did the summer go? It seems like we just celebrated the fourth with picnics and parades and related festivities. Family and school reunions have come and gone with only memories remaining. August is one of the several transition months we have here in North Dakota. Of course, many of the northern tier states and several others in the upper Great Plains experience the changes of the four very different seasons. We start out August with hot and sometimes humid weather. We will end the month thinking about the first frost...
Before becoming a pastor in 2020, I worked as a Children, Youth, and Family Minister for a couple of decades. One of the things I loved best about ministry with kids and youth was the amazing questions they asked. One of the most frequent questions, especially with older youth, was, “Do you have to go to church to be a Christian?” My immediate response was always, “Great question!” which was immediately followed by the inner thought, “Why are you asking?” Are you wondering about the requirements of God’s love for us? Are you worried about the s...
Growing up in the church, I learned very early on that our loving God is both one and three. There is one God and God is three: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Each is God separately, and all are God together. In Sunday school, my teachers read this wonderful book called "3 in 1" to me. Perhaps you too remember this book. It had a bright green cover and on the front was a drawing of an apple with a bite out of it. The book taught how in an apple, there are three parts – t...
Once there was a young eaglet that accidentally fell from the safety of his nest high on the mountain. Miraculously, he fell in a patch of soft grass and survived. He stumbled out into the open and a farmer saw him and brought him to the farm and placed him inside a chicken coop with all the other chickens. Since the eagle had not yet discovered his true identity, he started watching the other birds and naturally followed their habits and started doing what they did. So many people have been wro...
Psalm 23 is one of the most popular chapters in the Bible and many have said it is one of the wonders of the literary world. It is so deep that scholars are perplexed and yet so simple that children can enjoy it. However, in all of its beauty and profound wisdom, we should pray that we do not lose our reverence for its interpretation. It is easy to allow familiarity to make us cold and indifferent to chapters such as this and others like John 3, Romans 8, and First Corinthians 13. Being...
At a recent gathering of Christian parents, we were discussing how hard it is to be a parent these days. It seems we are busier than ever, and rarely have time to stop and reflect on this most important job called parenting. We were discussing how it is they learn and become. One dad remarked, “As my boys grow, I am realizing that whether or not I acknowledge it, I am teaching them all the time. Some of it is good, and some not so good!” Every parent in the room nodded their head in agreement. His point was a really good one, a cautionary and...
The blinking line… | there it is… blink blink | | and here I sit… in front of my screen…trying to think of something to write for this sermonette article… and the blink blinks each time I stop typing…seemingly taunting me… I don’t you have anything to day? My answer to the voice in my head? NO! Apparently not! Summer writer’s block is a curse! Maybe I am over thinking this. Maybe the words don’t need to be profoundly new or revolutionary. And just like a flash, something occurs to me… perhaps the blinking line is not a curse, but rather an...
Where is God? Surveys consistently show that while not everyone believes in God as portrayed in religion, the vast majority of people believe there is a divine being. So, since most of us agree that there is a supreme power, where is it? On a mountain? In the ocean? Within ourselves? Where can the supreme being be sought for requests, worship, knowledge or justice? I’m never sure who reads these things, but if you’re not a church goer, but you believe in a supreme power, where do you seek it? I’ll wait… Having been raised in the church,...
