Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
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“He who restrains his words has knowledge, and he who has a cool spirit is a man of understanding. Even a fool, when he keeps silent, is considered wise; when he closes his lips, he is considered prudent.” Proverbs 17:27-28 This is one of my favorite verses in the Bible; and I’m being completely serious. Quite often in my life, I have assumed the opposite of this proverb. Being a wise person has always been a goal of mine and as I’ve gotten older, I have sought to speak and to be heard as wise. I have noticed that people who are wise say wis...
So, I was watching baseball the other day and I noticed something. Some guys get good pitches to hit, and some never seem to. An exceptional pitcher will never leave a pitch up where a good hitter can hit it hard. However, even the best pitchers make mistakes and average pitchers often ‘leave pitches up,’ where the observant and patient batter can crush into the stands. What this means, is that no batter can predict when or if he’ll get a single good pitch to hit; and yet, his team is depending upon him to do the best he can. If he gets a goo...
My wife has been reading through the Old Testament lately and she recently got to the various stories concerning David. She’s read the stories many times, but this time something new struck her. What struck her this time were the other people. The Bible, by necessity, stays very focused upon David and the main characters; but on this read through Erin started to wonder about the rest of the characters. Take David and Bathsheba for example. David summons Bathsheba to sleep with her after seeing her bathe on her rooftop. Bathsheba complies, l...
What is the value of your faith? If you could put a price tag on what you believe, what would it say? If you asked your friends and close family how much you valued your faith, what would they say? If you asked your kids, what would they say? Jesus tells this one striking parable about a man traveling off road. This man discovers a treasure in field. So, what does he do? He sells everything he owns: his house, clothing, animals, everything. Then uses his liquidated assets to purchase the field with the treasure, and claim the treasure as his...
It is a well-known fact that leadership is a difficult skill to master. While most of us feel confident that we are in fact ‘good leaders,’ we’d also jump to rattle off a mile-long list of qualities one has to have in order to be considered a good leader; and each of our lists would look different. While it’s difficult to agree on what makes a good leader, it’s clear that few ever master it. Sometimes, however, I wonder if being a good follower is even harder. Recently I was reading in Judges and 1st and 2nd Samuel and I was struck by the po...
Josiah didn’t have to die. For those who don’t know, Josiah was one of the best kings of Judah. Between his cleansing of the temple, his personal faith, and his destruction of idol altars, Josiah did great things for Judah. So great, in fact, that it inspired God to hold off on his plans to, as God put it: “wipe Judah clean as a dishwasher wipes a plate clean.” Even when he discovered that all of Judah was in violation of their covenant with God, Josiah humbled himself and pushed Judah to do the same. Josiah was the kind of God-fol...
The Evolution of Right and Wrong Adam and Eve made a mistake. Obviously, they made the mistake of eating from the tree; but there was a greater mistake in the bigger choice they made. They chose to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Based upon the tree’s title and the snake’s comments, we’re left to assume that prior to their sin, Adam and Eve could not discern between good and evil. For them, life was made up of one choice: obey/follow God, or not. It seems that they were unable to discern between good and evil separ...
God and guardrails A couple of months ago, my 15-year old-daughter and I were discussing the functionality of guardrails. Around here, we don’t see them all that often, and when we do see them, they’re well off the roads, like on interstate dividers. Rarely in North Dakota do drivers get a close look at guardrails, like others states do in the mountains. Rather, as she asked how they were supposed to work, my mind actually drew on what I remembered from watching NASCAR with my family growing up. NASCAR races are filled with guardrails and cemen...
I have blueberries in my garden. No, I’m not confusing it with haskaps or juneberries (neither of which do not taste like blueberries.) No, I have literal blueberries growing in my garden. If you don’t believe me, give me a call and I’ll show you. Just give me a couple days warning, so I can weed a bit. You’ll be as surprised as when my NDSU extension friend came and took pictures because she didn’t believe me, either. I’m proud of my berries because the truth is, while they are technically growing in North Dakota dirt, I’ve made it as unnatura...
