Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
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One of the popular topics that readers contact me about are concerns associated with food shortages and higher costs. I realize that no one has a crystal ball to see into the future, but we have plenty of websites that are encouraging everyone to stockpile food and water. The prepping movement has been warning the public for years to prepare for such a crisis and of course, many have created profitable businesses by selling everything a person would need if something like this were to happen....
Sunday, April 24 at 2 p.m. at St. John's Catholic Church in New Rockford, Bishop John T. Folda presided at Confirmation and First Holy Eucharist with seven students from St. John's Catholic Church in New Rockford and five students from Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Carrington. The students from St. John's in New Rockford, who were taught by Jodi Guler, are Alexa Allmaras, Kensley Engels, Sadie Knatterud, Cordell Myhre, Zoe Reisenauer, Maddie Schaefer, and Bryce Yri....
Joe Kennedy, a former assistant coach at Bremerton High School in Bremerton, Wash., lost his coaching job after refusing to stop kneeling in prayer with players and spectators on the field immediately after football games. He took his arguments to the Supreme Court on April 25, 2022, saying the school district violated his First Amendment rights by refusing to let him continue praying at the 50-yard line after games. As a society, what have we come to? This man knelt midfield by himself, never asked anyone to join him, but eventually players...
The devil doesn’t mind your church growing. I know, it’s an eye grabbing first line (the youth might call it “click bait,”) but bear with me, I stand by it. Throughout the gospels, one of the consistent themes is Jesus driving out demons. Most people know and celebrate this. However, many people forget the odd thing Jesus always does along with exorcism. Predictably, the demons always try to shout out that they recognize Jesus as “the Holy One of God,” but Jesus always commands them to be quiet, then exorcises them. Think about that. What...
One of my father-in-law’s hobbies is collecting toys. He has a myriad of different collectible figures from different movies or TV shows. Recently he visited me and gave me five figures based upon the characters from the TV show ‘Lost.’ I find them fairly amusing because they are plastic models of actors attempting to portray people who never really existed. That thought makes me laugh a little inside. My father-in-law has figures from all sorts of movies (Star Wars, the Fantastic Four,) TV shows (Lost), and I believe he even has a few based...
I admit I am an emotional person. I recall going to see the Passion movie a few years ago and I was disturbed to say the least. It’s not uncommon for me to shed a tear when I witness something that moves my soul and this was no exception. Recently, I was watching a program about the “Make-A-Wish Foundation” and how they provide a way for very sick children to experience a happy, but most likely, last request and I cried through the entire program. As the agonizing scenes of what Christ went...
Wait for it. In 1st Samuel we come across the first king of Israel: Saul. Now, many of us know how the story of Saul turns out, but he began as a courageous leader. His first royal action was to rally all of Israel together (a feat unto itself in those days) and rescue a city in danger of being captured by one of Israel’s enemies. Saul initially inspired confidence that he may just be the kind of leader Israel needed. However, it didn’t take long to begin to see his shortfalls. See, his initial victory and subsequent crowning had riled the mas...
I am sure March 2020 is part of a time reference that few of us will ever forget. It seemed to be the onset of a season of fear, chaos, shifting sands and mercurial narratives. It was that chaotic spring when our family discovered something beautiful to stand on. It was the first time we had a Passover/Pesach Seder (or meal). The Hebrew language and culture has long been a fascination of mine for years, and about 10 years ago we were guests of a Passover Seder on Maundy Thursday at our church....
In the book of Judges, we find many strange stories. From a left-handed assassin killing an obese monarch, to a coward who destroyed an idol only to build a new one after God saved him; all of it and much more can be found in this dark and gruesome book. However, despite the strange nature of the book, at least one of the “heroes” is still well known in a children’s Sunday School room: Samson. His story, found in Judges 13, begins in mystery. The story begins with a woman being visited by an angel. Neither the angel nor the woman is named...
I remember the day we brought Teddy our English Bulldog puppy into our home. The breeder told us he was eight weeks old but after receiving his papers, we noticed he was actually only six weeks old at the time. He was a healthy little bruiser and we would laugh at his stumbling and being uncoordinated, but now we realize it was because he was such a baby. My wife and I would sit on the porch in the evenings and watch him explore around in the front yard. He was so happy as he would jump and...
This last week, I was studying my way through Romans 7 when I came to a very intriguing passage. The passage was Romans 7:14-21. The main theme in this passage is the struggle between the Apostle Paul’s two natures. A part of him is utterly fallen and sinful, and another part of him desires to please God. I found this to be very thought provoking. Most Christians would acknowledge Paul as being a stellar believer. The Apostle Paul writes about living in faith, loving God, and loving people with such passion that it is hard for people today t...
Is spring finally here? It sure looks like it. I walked to work today and didn't have to worry about slipping on the ice. It was a beautiful morning. We had so much ice this year and let's throw in wind as well. Nothing like a strong wind blowing snow over the ice to polish it up nice and shiny and slippery. I had a meeting with a family at the funeral home early this afternoon. Sometime between my walk to the office in the morning and my afternoon drive to New Rockford to the funeral home, it got quite windy, cold and even a drop a two of...
Why? So often this is a question asked by children of their parents. They see something they are not familiar with so it stands to reason that they would ask why. Even everyday occurrences, things that are so common to us we don't even notice them, can be a wonderment to little ones. Sometimes they don't know why there are rules or why they are forbidden to do some things. “Come inside, it's starting to rain,” says mom. Do we have to? Why? “Because you will get wet.” So? We get wet when we take a bath. Why can't we get wet in the rain? “Your c...
If you were to think of a single word, one which would sum up the Lent season, what would it be? Sadness? Worry? Death? Suffering? Jesus? Cross? There are any number of words that come to mind. And most likely, they would all be correct to some extent. Certainly all the ones I just listed would qualify. But the one I've come up with, the one word that to me signifies this season on our church calendar is Forgiveness. It is indeed a difficult concept to truly understand. In other religions of the world, they don't have a God that will forgive a...
No matter where we come from or how we have been taught, we are responsible for what we think, what we say, and how we act. As optimism and pessimism are learned behaviors, we know that our conduct and worldviews can be changed and controlled if this is our desire. Our spiritual understanding about who God is and who we are in Him must become more than a hope or a chance of fate. Having a personal relationship with Him is based on knowing that we have been purchased with the blood that Jesus...
I want to share a praise report of God healing someone I know personally. We hear about sickness and disease and the endless cries of why, but rarely do we learn about miracles when God intervenes and touches a person with His creative and restoring authority. In the New Testament, there are true accounts of Jesus asking what He can do for those who were suffering, and when they told Him their request, He said, “I will.” As Christians, we pray because we believe God is listening and that He wil...
This week begins the portion of the church calendar that separates Christianity from all other religions, Easter. As a prelude, a time for preparation, for nearly all Christian denominations to observe the season of Lent. The season of Lent lasts for 40 days and begins on Ash Wednesday. But if you were to count the actual days on your calendar from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday you would find there are 44 days. The answer to this is that as Sunday is a day of worship, it is not counted as a day of preparation. So, taking the days of this...
Let’s take a moment to whine about the weather. It’s dreary, always windy, bitter cold. Our vitamin D levels are down and we can feel it. Sometimes we hear, “well, if you’re dressed right, you can enjoy the outdoors in any weather.” Right. Unless you live here. We can find a lot to whine about these days. And they are real complaints. Life is difficult, we’re polarized, we’re busy, we’re distracted. All the whining reminds me of a familiar story about Jesus: The Wedding at Cana, a.k.a. when Jesus turns water into wine. We want THAT kind of wi...
One of the greatest mysteries is the perplexing relationship between God and humans. I cannot think of a more glorious yet frustrating subject. Especially when it comes to people trying to find answers when all they have is questions. I’ve counseled and given psychological first aid to those who have gone through a traumatic crisis and I’ve listened to people in hospital waiting rooms repeat that age-old question, “Why is this happening?” They cry and beg, but many times they cannot hear a...
Just before the Israelites enter the Promised Land, God tells them: “While you’re out among the nations where God has dispersed you and the blessings and curses come in just the way I have set them before you….” (Genesis 30:1). There are two words to explore: blessings and curses. In our #blessed culture, we believe that anything good that happens is a blessing and anything bad is a curse. That’s not what the root of these words mean, in fact, I want to challenge that the opposite may be true. The Hebrew word for blessing in this passage i...
For the next three weeks, we will wander together through the early verses of Deuteronomy chapter 30. Wander deeply. First, the context: the Israelites have been led by Moses through the Red Sea (Exodus 13-15), out of the land of Egypt where they were held as slaves of Pharoah. For 40 years, they’ve been wandering. For 40 years, they’ve witnessed miracles, been in battles, done their fair share of complaining, obeyed and strayed, all holding onto the promise that they’ll eventually be gifted and led to the Promised Land. That’s where Deutero...
The Holy Spirit, in the work of creating life, gathers us into the community that is the church. This new life comes to us through the gifts of God’s word and through baptism and holy communion. These three can be termed as “means of grace”. They are visible signs of God’s love for us and promise to us. The waters of baptism bring new birth, as we are grafted by the Holy Spirit’s grace into Christ’s death and resurrection, and into the promise God made to Israel. The bread and the wine deliver to us the forgiveness of sin through the body an...
During my seminary studies, I took a full semester class on the Holy Spirit. Part of our assignment at the end of the semester was to write our own best definition of the Holy Spirit. Here's what I came up with: The Holy Spirit is a creative energy that is manifested in power and transforming love. As one of three persons of the Triune God, the Holy Spirit is more than energy, the Holy Spirit is personal, is relationship, is community. When Jesus was about to leave his disciples and ascend to the Father, he told them, “Go therefore and make dis...
On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 1:4-5) The verses above happen after Jesus’ resurrection and before his ascension. He makes clear that what he had told them was about to happen. The Holy Spirit is coming, and in just a few days; and the Holy Spirit is a gift from the Father. On the day of Pente...
John 2:1-5 - On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” Jesus’ ministry and life on earth was made up of two primary actions: teaching and miracles. The Scripture text listed above tells the story of...
