Serving proudly since 1873 as the beautiful Nebraska Panhandle's first newspaper
Serving proudly since 1873 as the beautiful Nebraska Panhandle's first newspaper
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The most popular prayer that human societies have ever uttered during the past twenty centuries is undoubtedly the prayer that Jesus taught his disciples, ‘Our Father’, which is otherwise called ‘The Lord’s Prayer’. Anyone going to the holy land will get to visit the Church of Pater Noster (Our Father), the place where Jesus is believed to have taught this beautiful prayer. One thing that strikes our minds when we are at this place is the common heritage, communion and fellowship that is expressed by people who reach here. It is manifest...
How many of you recognize these infamous people: Chuck (the iceman) Liddel; Carlos (the natural born killer) Condit; Tito (the bad boy) Ortiz; Keith (the dean of mean) Jardine; Matt (the terror) Serra; Deigo (the nightmare) Sanchez; or Quinton (rampage) Jackson? These are all MMA, mixed martial arts cage fighters, who participate in the full body sanctioned fighting, with the outcome being tap out, knock out or black out. The sport is a combo of fighting styles, such as, boxing, Jiu jitsu, wrestling, tae kwon do, muay thai and karate. Some of...
In today's world there is a lot of Fear, confusion, and anxiety, so where does one turn to find Peace of mind, focus, and rest. In John 15 the Word of GOD talks about abiding in Christ. word Abide has several meanings, to remain, to continue in, to endure Bravely to stand or make a stand, IF abide in Christ, who is the source of Life we will produce a Godly Character, we will find peace for our souls and Spirit if you choose to personally stay connected, (have a relationship) you will find that Peace that passes all our understanding, that...
Have you ever tried to define Jesus? I mean, how would you tell someone else who Jesus is? Don’t be too upset if you can’t quite nail it down about who and what Jesus is to you. From the very beginning, most people couldn’t. And even today, there are those who still can’t define Him. There are those of us who spend a lot of time thinkin’ about Him and talkin’ about Him, and we still find it difficult – because – let’s face it – sometimes Jesus is just too big to get a hold of! He’s often ambiguous and unclear and confusing, and in all...
My first visit to Angel's village was awkward. I stayed with Alfred and Florence. They isolated me in the house's living room and gave me a kerosene cook stove to prepare my food. They didn't know how to handle their village's first white visitor. The following day, both had to go to work. They instructed me to stay indoors with the door locked, except to use the latrine. That was my intent, but then I heard a child crying. I tried to ignore it, but I could not. Looking out a window, I finally s...
Perhaps you have heard it said, “sometimes, you have to look over your shoulder to see how much of the field has been plowed.” In my previous life, I worked in the welding and atmospheric gas industries. I used this analogy with my coworkers and fellow employees when we sat down to plan our goals for the upcoming year. Those conversations took time to carefully weigh through all the reasons why our choices and decisions would be made; some of the reasons were within our control, others were not. All these conversations led us to the same cen...
Here we go again! Just when we thought things might be getting back to a new normal, things seem to be getting worse. Covid has raised its ugly head again, forest fires are still burning, the air is bad, flooding is still on the rampage, people are still getting shot, racial strife is on the rise, and I could go on. But I won’t. Instead, let us focus on where we can find peace and some answers. I know a lot of us are asking what we can do to make a difference in all this. This is, indeed, an uncertain and unstable world we are living in. We n...
THEN - In January 2002, First United Methodist Church of Weatherford, Texas, held a women’s retreat. More than 75 women were in attendance. Andrea Waitley (McWhorter) at that time had presented a three-session teaching from Psalm 86:11, “Teach me Your way, O LORD; I will walk in Your truth. Give me an undivided heart to fear Your name.” Andrea had titled this teaching “Cross My Heart.” The Lord moved powerfully on the hearts of the women who attended. Immediately after the retreat, Pat and W...
The national news is peppered with headline stories of people losing their tempers, and committing horrific acts of violence against total strangers, fellow workers, or even more commonly, members of their own family. Due to a variety of social pressures and prejudices, hate crimes also seem to abound. Is this rage or anger just a part of our generation or is there a part of all of us that is ready to boil over at any given moment. I believe we are truly living in an age of rage and anger. Did you know? The first act of murder recorded in the...
In the Book of Esther in Chapter Mordecai and Esther are sending messages back and forth talking about the fate of the Jewish people, and Mordecai make the statement, That maybe Esther is in the position she’s in “FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS” So how does that effect us today? We the body of CHRIST, have a voice, we have always had a voice, but it seems of late that voice has been a Whisper. The Church (BODY OF CHRIST) should be standing on BIBLICAL principals, and when something is wrong according to the word of GOD not according to society we sh...
One time, Sarah and I were deer hunting in the Sandhills about 30 miles south of Mullen. Our friend Tim took us out to a huge pasture and pointed out a windmill in a valley about two miles north of us. He said, “Just hunt your way straight towards that windmill, and I’ll pick you up in a couple hours!” We shoulda known better! By the time we walked down through a draw, climbed back to the top, found our way around a blow-out, then climbed another hill, and then did that same thing over and over and over again, each time checkin’ for that wi...
The Nebraska Church Guys” set out to document the history and architecture of Catholic parishes in Nebraska. Written above the door leading into Ron Sack’s den is the quote, “When a person dies, a library is lost.” He uses that quote as inspiration. The quote is based on an old African proverb, but Sack heard it again while visiting with historian Alex Meyer of Snyder, Nebraska. “It’s so true,” explained Sack. “My grandparents recorded as much history as they could over their lifetimes in or...
1 The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters; 3 He restores my soul. He leads me in right paths for his name’s sake. 4 Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff — they comfort me. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord my who...
Are you having a good day? I surely hope you are! Nobody in their right mind would want to trade a good day for a bad day…….or would we?? As we look back over our lives, we can see how it was during our struggles that we were drawn closer to God. It is a time when what we have heard with our ears, we now see with our eyes, through our misery, as we cry out to God. (Job 42:5 paraphrased) Be our struggles physical, emotional or spiritual God does not abandon us. My favorite book of the Bible is The Book of Job. It is the oldest book of the Bib...
Freedom is at the heart of a lot of our country’s history and national holidays. There is Martin Luther Jr’s Day, and his, “I Have a Dream,” speech declaring freedom at last. Just a couple of weeks ago, President Biden signed into law the “Juneteenth Bill,” making June 19 a Federal Holiday, commemorating the freedom declared by the Emancipation Proclamation of 1862 for enslaved people in the US in the aftermath of the Civil. We experience religious freedom because of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. And we just celebrated...
Forgiving others when they have hurt you is difficult. But holding onto the hurt, breeds anger, bitterness and revenge works it’s way in there too. In Matthew 6:9-12 is the LORD’S prayer, in the prayer it states forgive us our Debts AS WE FORGIVE our debtors, and in verses 14&15 it states IF you forgive men (women) when they sin against you your Heavenly Father will forgive you when you Sin, But in the next verse it says IF you don’t forgive others when they sin against you , your Heavenly Father won’t forgive you of your sin. JESUS when ha...
More than 30 years ago, Doug Birky was finishing his degree at Dallas Theological Seminary when he was contacted about a church in Sidney. He was contacted after the midwest district of the Evangelical Free Church received his resume. He calls the delivery of his resume “another story.” What is real, he says, is he and his wife Carolyn and their family, have been blessed to be part of the Sidney community since 1986. “We had never imagined we'd be here this many years,” Birky said recentl...
In our own time, maybe no one has seen the social aspects of God’s Kingdom on earth quite like Martin Luther King, Jr. He stood toe to toe with the house of evil. He insisted in a number of his speeches that the key to the future was a certain “maladjustment…” In 1961, Dr. King gave the commencement address at Lincoln University, in which he talked about “The American Dream,” and he said this, “There are certain things within our social order to which I am proud to be maladjusted and to which I call upon all people of good will to be maladju...
Over the years since I was a child in church, in various worship services, we have sung the old hymn, "When We All Get To Heaven." The chorus of the hymn says: “When we all get to heaven, what a day of rejoicing that will be. When we all see Jesus, we’ll sing and shout the victory!” This song was a constant reminder that Christians are looking forward to being in Heaven with Jesus Christ some day because of their faith in him. Like the Bible challenges us, we should be anticipating that day with great joy. Heaven will be our eternal home after...
When I was a little girl I went to Sunday School and sang “Jesus Love Me” and I knew he was always watching over me. However, I also knew that while watching over me, God also knew everything I did…good or bad! This made me fear Him. I often envisioned Him “making a list and checking it twice to see if I had been naughty or nice”. Sound familiar? I am sure many of you, as children, also had some of those same thoughts. Yes, there is a fear of God, meaning a reverence for His Person and authority, which is the heart of true Faith. However, we mi...
Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, was first officially observed on May 30, 1868, on the order of General John Alexander Logan for the purpose of decorating the graves of the American Civil War dead. Arlington National Cemetery, filled with all those white grave markers, is probably the most symbolic of the cost of war and a revelation of our heritage and troublous times in American history.Historically, Memorial Day was expanded to include all who died in World War 1, and further expanded to include those of World War 2, better...
Grace is the unmerited favor of GOD, Grace was poured out on mankind with the Death and Resurrection of His Son Jesus. So Ive heard it explained this way Grace is GOD giving us something we don’t deserve, and Mercy is God not giving us something we do deserve. We are Saved by Grace and Faith, not by anything we do, so we can’t boast about what you did, salvation comes because Jesus sacrificed himself for us so we could recieve what GOD has for us, which is a relationship with him. The Grace of GOD helps us through this life and through Grace we...
Jesus said, “I am the Vine, you are the branches…” What Jesus was sayin’ was this: it’s good to be part of a larger group, workin’ towards larger goals – but at the same time, we gotta be connected to a center before we can actually be productive! Our lives are all about relationships. Scripture says we’re to love God and to love one another – that’s networking – that’s relationship building – that’s reaching out to one another for mutual support and accountability – that’s all about becoming family! ‘Cuz listen – in the end, relationship...
Janice and Faye Rostvit, identical twins from Colorado Springs, Colo., will share in song and testimony at 10:30 a.m. May 23 at the Church of the Nazarene, 1445 Jackson St, Sidney. For more than 40 years the Rostvit Twins have had an extensive world-wide music ministry. Often they would be overseas for six months of each year and singing in churches in the USA the other months. Their travels have taken them to over 90 countries where they always learned a repertoire of songs in the local...
Houses of worship do not always come with an abundance of finances. Some are as the poet describes, the church in the wildwood. As the poet, songwriter describes, this church is a small fellowship in the vale. It is a church likely small enough building it took a lot of volunteers and time. Maintaining it took just as long. The Panhandle has many churches where the Word of God is shared with the faithful few, and when an emergency occurs, they have to rely on their brothers in faith. That is the...
