Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
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"And don’t be wishing you were someplace else or with someone else. Where you are right now is God’s place for you. Live and obey and love and believe right there." – 1 Corinthians 7:17 Attributed to Augustine of Hippo, a fourth-century father of the faith: “There is a God-shaped void in every human heart.” Each human knows how this feels. Life is full of disappointments. We wish our job was better; we wish our marriage was better; we wish our kids would do as we say; we wish we’d stick to our workout plan! Enhanced by social media algorithms,...
The Apostle Paul loved the church in Corinth. It was arguably his favorite group of people he led to faith. He opened a church there, with high hopes of their leadership in passing on the faith. Corinth was a rich mixture of Greek, Hellenistic and Roman influences. Not only culturally diverse, but geographically in a location that connected mainland Greece with the Peloponnese. Many different cultures and people of different religious backgrounds lived there, as Corinth was a hub of commerce and innovation. The gospel Paul brought there was...
Matthew 3:13 – “The sower went out to sow.” When we run across a familiar parable, a story we’ve heard many times over our lives, it’s fun to switch it up a bit. We always think of God as the sower. And this most definitely is true; God sows seeds in front of us and around us and behind us and in our hard hearts and where we least expect to see Him. Might it also be true, at the same time, that we are sowers of seed? Teachers, parents and people who know and love small children certainly understand our role as sowers. They find joy and hope...
At the very end of Jesus’ sermon on the mount, he wraps up with a familiar image: two houses, two very different foundations. One is built on sand, the other built on rock. Matthew 7:24-27: “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into pra...
Just after the Beatitudes, where Jesus turns the normal, run-of-the-mill, follow-all-these-rules-and-you’ll-be-saved idea on its head, he shocks the listeners with this metaphor: “You are the salt of the earth.” Matthew 5:13. Salt was vital and life-giving in the ancient world. It was used for healing, cleansing wounds and preserving. Covenants entered were called “salt covenants,” agreements that were well-preserved, unbreakable. Jesus says – YOU are the salt of the earth. YOU are vital and life-giving. YOU are used for healing and cleansi...
Humans have a tendency to follow, whether we like to admit it or not: “Follow me,” says every anti-aging ad campaign. “Follow me,” says the intentionally-curated algorithms of your social media accounts. “Follow me,” says the diet and exercise plan that is guaranteed to work. Jesus says “follow me” to his first disciples (Matthew 4). These fishermen knew all there was to know about fishing. They knew this demanding and difficult life. They worked hard in a volatile political climate, not always secure that what they earned would be given...
As the temperature drops, and harvest wraps up, I start to want to cook again, to sleep a little later, and spend longer evenings inside. It’s also a time to anticipate the very long, very cold months ahead, and think about vacation. Warm vacation. Goodness, I appreciate time away from the normal routines, time to make memories. But the older my kids get, the more I’m noticing that their memories have much more to do with routines, and normalcy, and how they felt in everyday life—the boring stuff. Because let’s think about it: One week of vaca...
In The Parable of the Shrewd Manager (Luke 16:1-15), we have a rich man and the manager who works for the rich man. The manager caught wind that he was getting fired—the rich man (the boss) was not happy. The manager went quickly and slyly, and forgave debts (read: manipulated) of his richest past customers, so he wouldn’t lose quite as much money…to save his own hide. He acted shrewdly, and dishonestly. “The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly” Luke 16:8. Commending shrewdness? Commending dishonesty? Another to...
“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...
“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...
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...
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...
Human beings are created for relationships. We need touch, a place to belong, and to be loved. There is no doubt that modern psychology has claimed this, as well as each of the world’s religions/philosophies. It’s such a basic truth for every person, it almost seems silly to claim, yet profound to admit. Loving and healthy relationships are where you can be yourself, which also always includes your darkest side. The gospel of John includes many encounters of Jesus with a variety of people: insiders, outsiders, outcasts, religious leade...
The John Tesh radio show told me about an experiment done on competitive bicyclists. All the participants started by competing in a hot-weather bike ride. Then they were split in half, one group continued to train physically in the hot-weather conditions, and the other group focused their training on mental health, including positive affirmations, and learning how to deal with uncomfortable situations while racing. In the follow-up competition, the group who focused on mental training improved their speed and duration by 25%. We’ve all heard s...
“Wherever [Jesus] went, into villages or cities or farms, they laid the sick in the marketplaces, and begged him that they might touch even the fringe of his cloak; and all who touched it were healed.” (Mark 6:56) So much of Jesus' ministry, his miracles and healing, involved touch. The loving touch that gives life, that heals, that restores. Father Jairus wants his daughter “to be made well, and live”, and to be made well, the hemorrhaging woman simply touched Jesus’s cloak. (Read Mark 5:21-43.) Jesus’ life is full of stories about him t...
We’ve had a heavy and difficult year, and I still feel that in my frequent, deep sighs. The pandemic, the political fighting, the polarization of our world just feels too much to add to our already busy lives, filled with just normal ups and downs. Jesus sighed too. And I think we can see why. When we see Him in Mark 7:24-37, He’s traveling the countryside, performing miracles, gaining popularity and status, well-liked, getting all the accolades anyone would want. But He knows this won’t last. He knows this whole ministry thing ends in His s...
Without even saying, “be not afraid,” the familiar and beloved Ecclesiastes 3 addresses fear head on. I think this is the reason Ecclesiastes is so beloved. Because it’s true. It’s true that half of life is suffering, and half is joy. It’s true that sometimes we need one decision, and sometimes we need a very different one. And sometimes we don’t know what to decide. Read here Ecclesiastes 3 For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up...
Fear can be a positive protective measure, and fear can morph into something destructive. When fear overwhelms us (2020 anyone?), we often tend to isolate ourselves, curving more and more inward. Scripture tells us the last thing we should do is to isolate ourselves. In Scripture’s many “be not afraid”, God sends someone to the fearful one. When we’re afraid, God sends someone to us because we need to talk about it. When we say our fears out loud, and really be honest, we can diffuse their heaviness and power on our lives. Matthew's account...
How have you experienced fear? What paralyzes you? What keeps you up at night? Psychology would tell us that fear is a natural defense mechanism, and can keep us from danger. We all have experiences where our fear kept us safe, avoided a dangerous situation, prevented harm. But that’s not the fear I’m exploring. I’m wondering about the fear that makes us feel helpless, the fear that colors our actions, that impairs our ability to move and grow, inhibits our ability to challenge the status quo. Fear that chips away our trust in anyone, or anyth...
There are 365 times in scripture that we read the words, “Be not afraid.” I’ve never gone through and counted them, so don’t quote me on it, but a simple concordance search confirms: there’s about that many. The remarkable part is to whom “Be not afraid” is spoken. It’s told to Abraham (Gen 15:1) as he is called to be the father of the nation. It is told to Hagar, the poor, servant girl, single mother, treated terribly by those in power (Gen 21:17). It’s said to warriors before they go into battle (Joshua 10:25). Sometimes God says it throu...
Nearing the end of a two-week quarantine, snow, a contentious election, among many other 2020-ish happenings, I’m trying to focus on what I’m grateful for. Here’s my list: • The relative health and safety of my family, and the community I live in. • Friends who will make grocery store runs. • Orange-colored string lights. • Our neighbor’s projected house witch. • Conscientious and helpful school teachers. • Television shows like the Office, Seinfeld, The Good Place. • Dogs. Aren’t pets amazing? They have no clue that the world is chaotic; th...
If you haven’t yet, do yourself a favor and go read the book “Wonder” by RJ Palacio. (The movie isn’t enough; you need to read the book!) It’s a kids’ book, wisely assigned to the sixth grade language arts students. But this book isn’t just for kids. It’s a beautiful tribute to the resilience of the human spirit. The main character, fifth grader, Auggie Pullman, has a rare combination of genetic defects which make his face severely deformed. And for the first time in his life, he’s heading to school. With care and honesty, Palacio weaves a stor...
As the world spins in increasing chaos, COVID rates rise, and a contentious election draws near, it’s hard to find peace and calm. While finding peace has always been elusive to human beings, right now it feels especially difficult. In these times, I appreciate the honesty of others who’ve struggled to find peace. Today, my mind is on Horatio and Anna Spafford, from whom the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 took their law business, and the life of their 4-year-old son. Two short years later, while the family sailed across the Atlantic Ocean on the...
First Congregational Church I am moved by what poet and songwriter Sara Graves shares in her song “The Dream” about her grandfather’s recurring image of God: You are standing in the driveway As I come up the street I can tell by your movement you’re not angry You are waiting there Because we humans worry. We see the chaos of the world around us. We worry that we’ve done something, that we’ve caused God’s wrath on us. That we don’t deserve the radical love that God offers. Human reason says that “everything happens for a reason” and that...
