New Rockford Transcript - Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883

Why was John the Bap-tist arrested? Do you remember why John the Baptist was arrested? Much of John the Baptist’s life and ministry is remembered by most people. His miraculous birth, his wild “Florida-man” style of preaching, his baptism of...

This is my 99th sermonette, but to be perfectly honest, I write this with the most trepidation of any so far. I’ve resisted writing it for quite a while, and I’ve run out of reasons not to write it. So, please know that the following is written...

“‘All things are lawful,’ but not all things are helpful. ‘All things are lawful,’ but not all things build up. Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor.” 1st Corinthians 10:23-24 I know this is a bold statement but I be...

“Come and See!” Those are the words that greet the women who first discovered the empty tomb. They come Sunday morning with spices, but without a plan to move the stone. As they wonder about what they’re going to do about the stone, they are...

I like canoeing. I used to go to the Boundary Waters in Minnesota before I moved further away but even today, I enjoy jumping in the James River with my canoe and a paddle. If you’ve never canoed before, perhaps someday I can give you a lesson. As...

 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...

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...

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...

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....

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...

A heavy metal band I commonly listen to, Skillet, recently released a song called “Hero.” In the song they describe, with no shortage of energy, how we need a hero. From the Skillet’s perspective, there is so much wrong with the world, life,...

Adino killed 800 men in one battle. Eleazar slayed Philistine warriors alone until his arm was exhausted from destroying his enemies. Shammah, despite being fully surrounded, held the high ground alone and won the victory. These three also tore...

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....

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...

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...

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...

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...

Who am I? The world, culture and politicians will give me plenty of answers. They’ll tell me who gets to identify me, how they can identify me, and which identities are acceptable and which ones are not. While the world has many answers for...

Who am I? In a world that puts stock in how we identify, we must ignore the temptation to allow us to identify ourselves, and turn to the Bible. The answer to the question “who am I?” isn’t on social media, and the politicians certainly don’t...

For the month of September, we’re looking at our identity. While the world seeks to tell us who we are and how we identify ourselves, we’re going to look to the Bible. What does God have to say about who we are? Last week, we began at the...

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...

Identity. It’s one of major topics of conversation in our world. We debate who can define our identity. We debate the different kinds of identity. We debate how others are supposed to respond to our identity. Who’s male and who’s female? Do I g...

The book of Daniel begins with a peculiar story. The best young men of Israel, who had been forcibly taken from their homes, are in Babylon when an edict comes to them. They are to be raised and educated in the palace with the best that Babylon has...

I was watching a movie the other day based around World War I. In it, the main character was blinded for a few weeks after a passing exposure to mustard gas. This explained why, in the apex moment of the movie, the character had to be guided by his...

As of April, I am 15 months, and 26 months, removed from surgery on my right kidney. Long story short, the plumbing out of my kidney was kinked, and my right kidney was filling, but not draining. To have the issue resolved, I needed specialized...