Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
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Identity Politics. It’s a major “conversation” in our culture right now. The youngest generations have spurned labels, and yet continue to create new labels. Whether it’s in regard to their political affiliation, religion, gender or even race, who we identify ourselves as continues to grow as an issue. This conversation has the potential to be encouraging and enlightening, except for the fact that politicians (who, ironically, tend to be of the older generations), continue to use these labels and identities for their own gain. Thus, weaponi...
Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and He desires to spend quiet time with us. Our heavenly Father beckons us to draw near to Him, as He longs to be with His children. As we go about our busy day, many times we do not realize His presence but nevertheless, He is there. May we listen with our ears, watch with our eyes, and be aware of our thoughts, as God is always trying to communicate with us. The Lord of compassion gives us breath, and every heartbeat as a gift of His endless mercy and grace. He...
Greetings dear brothers and sisters in Christ. Beginnings. Something new, or perhaps returning to something, to again begin anew… a new city, new job, new school, or a new baby in the house. Even in rural communities such as ours, where things never seem to change, there is usually something new. Of course the biggest thing that is new now is that once again, we are saying good bye to summer vacation and school has started. For some, it truly is a new beginning. The kindergarten children, the first graders, and perhaps the freshmen are all e...
Grace and Peace to you from God our Father. Amen Joshua 24:1-2, 14-18 Joshua speaks of choices in this little bit of scripture. When we think about it, the whole Bible is about choices we make. Some of them are good choices; others, not so much. God chose to give us mortals the ability to think, to reason, and to make choices. From the very beginning this ability has been our downfall. The deceiver, my name for satan, talked to Eve in the garden. Through deception, he talked Eve into making the wrong choice. She could have stuck to her guns...
Greetings to you dear brothers and sisters in Christ. I love sports. I can watch almost any sport at any level. Whenever possible, I enjoy watching our students here play. Particularly, I enjoy going to the volleyball matches and basketball games, girls and boys. I try to get there for the very first game and I stay until the last game is over. It is fun to watch the growth of these young athletes and see the progression of the kids’ abilities of each succeeding game to the next higher level, from 5th graders all the way up to the seniors in h...
In the name of our Father, greetings to one and all. “Hot enough for you”? How many times have we said or heard that this year? Quite a few I imagine. Perhaps for many of us, and I include myself, who are too young to remember the 1930's, this recent spate of high temperatures and accompanying lack of rain seems ominous. Just a few weeks ago, I heard a farmer mention that this is the worst crop he's ever had. We can see from the road as we drive around the area, pastures never really greened up this year and there is little hay to be had. Alt...
I hope you all are having a restful month! As we come to the end of the month, I want to focus on one more subject before I turn it over to someone else. As people who love and follow God, the Bible tells us to try and be more like Jesus each day. (1 John 2:6) We can read the Gospels to see how Jesus lived. As we do this, we observe Jesus prioritized rest, even though he was literally saving the world (His to-do list was way more important than yours, sorry to break it to you). If Jesus, the Son of God, rested then why do we think we are the...
When it comes to finding our place in this world, let’s consider two categories. The first one let’s call, floating down the river. Imagine someone napping in a small boat without a compass or a paddle and not caring about where they are going. Having a spectator mentality, they have no map or intentional direction, but rather are just hoping for the best. It’s also common for these individuals to throw pity parties from time to time, as their happy-go-lucky lifestyle includes serious disappoint...
Now that we’ve dug into what rest is, why we should rest, and how we start to do that—I want to look at the Sabbath. You may have a lot of ideas associated with the word Sabbath, but we are going to look at what the Bible says about the Sabbath, and how we can incorporate it in our everyday lives. In doing this, I hope to break down and rid us of the false ideas we have toward the subject. First let’s look at scripture. The Bible talks a lot about the Sabbath—especially in the Old Testament, but Jesus also talks about it in the Gospels...
I spend a lot of time writing, and I try to present a balance of optimism and reality. This is becoming more difficult as we are constantly bombarded with so many things we do not understand. Even more disturbing is to consider how much negativity is going on that we are not aware of. I’m not implying that we anticipate evil behind every bush or under every rock, but my convictions accept our need to pray for spiritual discernment. I’ve had conversations with individuals who believe that mor...
“Yes, my soul, find rest in God; my hope comes from Him. Truly He is my rock and my salvation; He is my fortress, I will not be shaken. My salvation and my honor depend on God; He is my mighty rock, my refuge. Trust in Him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts to Him, for God is our refuge.” Psalms 62:5-8 NIV “Be still.” That is what the Lord has been telling me the last few days. The last week and a half has been a whirlwind. I’ve been traveling and going constantly, I’ve barely had a moment to sit down. I was driving back home,...
The life of David in the Bible is one of the more popular stories in the Christian faith. Of all the individuals other than Christ, I would guess there have been more messages about him than any other character within the word of God. There is a huge difference between the way we observe and judge with our natural senses, and the way God perceives everything through His perfect spiritual wisdom, and the key to our success is learning to see as God sees. We begin our story in I Samuel, where Samu...
Although postponed for almost a full year, it is with jubilation that First Lutheran Church’s 100th anniversary festivities will finally take place this fall. On Sunday, October 18, 2020, Pastor Amy Kippen conducted a special service to acknowledge the church’s milestone anniversary, but due to COVID-19 restrictions at the time, the main celebration to commemorate the many years of ministry has been scheduled for Sunday, September 26, 2021. The delayed date will not diminish the reverence or excitement for this important tribute. Eastern North...
Wednesday nights this summer, join First Lutheran Church in New Rockford for worship, fellowship and fun. S'more Worship services will be held Wednesday, July 14 & 21, and August 4 & 18 at 6 p.m. at the Hirchert home, next door to the church. Bring a lawn chair and your whole family for a casual evening worship featuring music, scripture and uplifting words from Pastor Amy Kippen. Then stay for the s'mores bar and fellowship!...
Matthew 11:28-30 (NIV) “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” This verse has been my motto this summer. I work full time with a campus ministry. Though I LOVE what I do, at the end of the school year, I was tired, and had a tendency to just go through the motions. When summer hit, the Lord got my attention and highlighted this verse. He spoke to my...
I watch my little grandson, who is almost three years old, and it’s amazing how fast he is learning about life. He’s happy when he has his way, but when he’s told no or stop, he bows his head and sticks out his lower lip. How many of us are like this? Ha! All of us! I often think about the many situations and experiences this little fellow will face in his journey, and how he will eventually learn there is more to life than watching cartoons and playing with toys. There will be times when he wil...
As our spiritual values become more centered on God, it’s normal to start looking forward to our eternal existence. For those who are in Christ, how exciting it is to know that our heavenly Father and His Son Jesus, our loved ones, our new name, our glorified body, inheritance, citizenship, and crowns and rewards are all a part of our glorious future. We are briefly passing through this world, and the only thing we will take with us when we depart is an account of how we lived and loved. How w...
For the past eight weeks, I have shared with you all about a nightly faith practice called FAITH5. I’ve invited you each week to “Huddle Up in Faith” with your family to share these five simple steps: 1. SHARE your highs and lows 2. READ a Bible verse or story 3. TALK about how the Bible verse might relate to your highs and lows 4. PRAY together 5. BLESS one another with the sign of the cross I’ve tried to make the case that investing just a few minutes each night to connect with your family and with God, will reap benefits in the present an...
Over the past weeks, I’ve shared about a simple five-step nightly faith practice called FAITH5. FAITH5 is a nightly ritual that helps families grow closer to one another and to God, one night at a time. All that benefit and it only takes just a few minutes! Each night at bedtime, families “Huddle Up” to check in. Here are the five steps of the FAITH5 Home Huddle: 1. SHARE your highs and lows 2. READ a Bible verse or story 3. TALK about how the Bible verse might relate to your highs and lows 4. PRAY together 5. BLESS one another with the sign o...
Over the past weeks, I’ve shared about a simple five-step nightly faith practice called FAITH5. FAITH5 is a nightly ritual which helps families grow closer to one another and to God, one night at a time. All that benefit, and it only takes just a few minutes! Each night at bedtime, families “Huddle Up” to check in. Here are the five steps of the FAITH5 Home Huddle: 1. SHARE your highs and lows 2. READ a Bible verse or story 3. TALK about how the Bible verse might relate to your highs and lows 4. PRAY together 5. BLESS one another with the sign...
Over the past weeks, I’ve shared about a simple five-step nightly faith practice called FAITH5. FAITH5 is a nightly ritual that helps families grow closer to one another and to God, one night at a time. All that benefit and it only takes just a few minutes! Each night at bedtime, families “Huddle Up” to check in. Here are the five steps of the FAITH5 Home Huddle: 1. SHARE your highs and lows 2. READ a Bible verse or story 3. TALK about how the Bible verse might relate to your highs and lows 4. PRAY together 5. BLESS one another with the sign o...
Over the past weeks, I’ve shared about a simple five-step nightly faith practice called FAITH5. FAITH5 is a nightly ritual that helps families grow closer to one another and to God, one night at a time. All that benefit and it only takes just a few minutes! Each night at bedtime, families “Huddle Up” to check in. Here are the five steps of the FAITH5 Home Huddle: 1. SHARE your highs and lows 2. READ a Bible verse or story 3. TALK about how the Bible verse might relate to your highs and lows 4. PRAY together 5. BLESS one another with the sign o...
Over the past weeks, I’ve shared about a simple 5-step nightly faith practice called FAITH5. FAITH5 is a nightly ritual that helps families grow closer to one another and to God, one night at a time. All that benefit and it only takes just a few minutes! Each night at bedtime, families “Huddle Up” to check in. Here are the five steps of the FAITH5 Home Huddle: 1. SHARE your highs and lows 2. READ a Bible verse or story 3. TALK about how the Bible verse might relate to your highs and lows 4. PRAY together 5. BLESS one another with the sign o...
I notice, when talking with certain people about Christian living, it’s common for them to lose eye contact as they start searching for a way to change the subject. Actually, this is perfectly understandable. Why? Because if someone, even if they are somewhat religious, has never given their heart to Jesus Christ or made the commitment to follow him, they feel uncomfortable thinking and talking about it. Our natural mind and the Spirit of the Lord are like oil and water, as the old nature wants...
This is the third article in an eight-week series by Rev. Amy Kippen, First Lutheran Church Over the past two weeks, I’ve shared about a simple five-step nightly faith practice called FAITH5. If you missed these last weeks, no worries. Let me catch you up. FAITH5 is a nightly ritual that helps families grow closer to one another and to God, one night at a time. All that benefit, and it only takes just a few minutes. Each night at bedtime, families “Huddle Up” to check in. Here are the five steps of the FAITH5 Home Huddle: 1. SHARE your highs a...
