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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As I sit in my office to write this article, I realize that I have been blessed once more. In 2017 I got to write an article just before Christmas is celebrated in Western churches and now I get to write an article on the day the Christmas season ends in many Eastern churches. These twenty six days are almost a whole month. In the Eastern churches which still use the Julian calendar, today is the Feast of Theophany. The feast commemorates the baptism of Jesus by John the Forerunner. John has been preaching, calling the people to repentance and...
I recently visited with a friend who is a manager of a health foods market in Grand Island. He spoke of the many people who desired to eat healthy as one of their many New Year’s resolutions. My friend wondered how long this noble intention would last. His bet was it would not last. Rather, as good as this resolution was for these individuals, it would be short-lived. I do not hear of New Year’s resolutions today as I heard of them in the past. Are people becoming a little more realistic? Is the bar set just a little too high? Is this a mer...
As I write this, there is a strange quietness in our house. All the Christmas gifts have been opened, the New Year welcomed and family members have returned to their homes and their lives. Yet, there is a sense of warmth that remains from that special time with family, as we rejoiced in the birth of the Christ Child and the New Year God gave to us Christmas and the New Year are a good time for Christians to reflect on what God has done for us and all creation. He began by creating us and making us precious in His sight. ….and He has a plan f...
It’s Christmas time, once again. It’s that time of year, if you live in a big city as I used to, when everything that should be peaceful becomes a rat race. If you are a working person, it has become a time of parties and eating cookies, having a drink or two before going home. The stores are jammed with last minute shoppers who never seem to know that they had several months to get that all done. What we seem to have forgotten most, is whose birthday it is anyway. We seem to be a lot like the kids on the old Spike Jones recording who kee...
HOUSTON (AP) — A judge on Thursday denied an emergency request for relief funds by three Texas churches damaged during Hurricane Harvey that are suing the federal government over how it offers disaster aid to houses of worship. The churches are suing the Federal Emergency Management Agency over a policy that denies disaster assistance to nonprofit organizations with facilities that are primarily used for political, athletic, vocational or religious activities. The three houses of worship accuse FEMA of religious discrimination by denying t...
Hope defined: A favorable and confident expectation. We live in a current world that is Chaotic at best, what used to be right seems to be wrong, and what has always been wrong, all of a sudden has become right. There does not seem to be any rhyme or reason, and people seemed only concerned with themselves. Isaiah 9, gives us reason for HOPE. The Word of GOD declares the Messiah (JESUS) would be born, and would give GOD’s people a reason for hope and confidence. The Messiah (Jesus) would bring Light to a dark and Hopeless world, that he w...
The Gospel of Luke records this familiar account during the ministry of Christ on earth: “As Jesus was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!” When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed. One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him – and he was a Samaritan. Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? W...
Jesus’ gift of peace overcomes anxiety Are you anxious? Are you afraid of something? I feel a lot of anxiety around us. We’re afraid of people who are different from us, the others. We’re worried about the economic climate of our city. Maybe we’re just anxious and we don’t know why. The Gospel of John records that the disciples met together on the first Easter Day. They had heard reports that the tomb of Jesus was empty, but they had no proof. And they were afraid: “When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors o...
Mothers are teachers. Mothers are disciplinarians. Mothers are cleaning ladies. Some mothers are gardeners and mowers of lawns. Other Mothers are expert bakers and window washers too. Mothers are nurses and doctors and psychologists and counselors and chauffeurs and coaches. Mothers are developers of personalities, molders of vocabularies, and shapers of attitudes. Mothers are soft voices saying, "I love you." Mothers are a child's first impression of God's love. Mothers are all of these things...
Today as I drove my big "ole" yellow Sidney school bus into the bus barn, I realized the tank was getting close to empty. Knowing Rod our maintenance man was out on a driving assignment and I needed diesel today, Tim said he would fill it for me. I told him I would follow him to the station as I did not have a credit card. He gladly agreed to have me go with him and we filled up both buses. As we were standing there waiting for the pump to kick off giving us an indication that the tanks were...
FOR SALE: One grave – slightly used – just like new. Here is an advertisement that you will probably never see in this newspaper or hear on our local radio station. That’s because graves and tombs are not normally used for just a brief amount of time. However, this advertisement could have appeared in the “Jerusalem Sun-Telegraph” two thousand years ago. The crucified body of the Lord Jesus Christ had been buried in a tomb just outside of Jerusalem, but his body was there for only three days. And even though a rumor had been started which acc...
He is risen! He is risen, indeed! That is the triumphant shout we will hear in churches around the world on Easter Sunday Morning. Yes, we have a lot to shout about...the resurrection of our Lord! God revealed his strong love for us in his son, Jesus Christ, Who died on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins and life eternal. "For God so loved the world that He gave his only son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16 Often we focus so much on the las...
Currently we are well into the Season of Lent. The word "Lent" means "springtime." Specifically, it refers to a springtime for the Church. It is a time when we seek to know the new life that is rooted in the dying and rising of the Lord Jesus. The season of Lent is marked by a 40 day period before the Celebration of the resurrection of Christ on Easter Sunday. The number "40" is very symbolic since it signals a time of preparation. The Israelites spent 40 years in the desert being tested before...
This article is being written to appear on the Friday, three weeks before Easter Sunday as it appears on the Gregorian or civil calendar, which is the calendar most of the world uses these days. But for those Christian churches which still adhere to the Julian Calendar, Easter Sunday will not be until May 1. But that isn't the important fact of this, the greatest and holiest day of the year. No matter which date we celebrate, what we are celebrating is the most important fact. We are celebrating...
Who was Babe Ruth? George Herman Ruth Jr. was a troubled child who lacked parental supervision. George's problem became so rugged that his parents could not control him and he was in constant trouble. His parents, because of his discipline problems, enrolled him in Saint Mary's Industrial School for boys. It was there where he developed his vocational skills and a passion for baseball. He was determined and very focused on learning how to play baseball. One day, Baltimore Orioles owner Jack Dunn...
Not too long ago the Super Bowl was the main topic of conversation. There was a lot of conversation about the shortcomings of the Broncos. As I listened to the criticism of the team, I was reminded of this definition from football coach Church Mills: “A spectator is a person who sits 40 rows up in the stands and wonders why a 17 year old kid can’t hit another 17 year old kid with a football from 40 yards away...and then goes out to the parking lot and can’t find his car.” We love to complain. Although the weather forecasters tell us that th...
Well, we made it through January. How are your new year’s resolutions coming along? Yea, I feel your pain. There’s just something about making changes in my lifestyle that seems like a lonely project. Is there any help out there? Why don’t we consider the radical idea of making a NEW new year’s resolution this February? I resolve to make Jesus my personal shepherd and want to experience all of the benefits he provides for my living in 2016. With Jesus as our personal shepherd, there is assurance, peace of mind and great confidence. The 23rd Ps...
It was spring and four young graduates decided that before they would settle down into life’s new adventure, they would tour the country. Their goal was to interview people as to their values on life itself. They discovered an RV that suited their needs and off they went looking, each one of them for a story that would inspire, excite or ignite their passion for what the future would hold for them. They were determined that this would be their adventure of a lifetime before they would go and make their fortune and their mark in life. Fifteen t...
We all have those lists - you know, resolutions, what I want to accomplish in the new year: lose weight, keep on track, community involvement, volunteer more, take a vacation, spiritual growth - you get the idea. This is a time for personal reflection and spiritual preparation for the new year. It offers a structured opportunity to examine what is holding us back from being who we really want to be. If we use the new year to take concrete steps towards becoming advocates for change, together we can make a difference! - Begin with prayer: Going...
The Holy Scriptures reveal that God in heaven wants you have a happy new year. Look at the kind of “happy newness” he offers us both now and forever if we put our faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible tells us: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ…” - 2 Corinthians 5:17-18. “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and m...
We are about to come to the end of an exciting time in the church year…Advent. Many Christian churches celebrate Advent four Sundays and weeks before Christmas. Advent means “coming” in Latin. This refers to the coming of Jesus into the world. Christians use the four Sundays and weeks of Advent to prepare and remember the real meaning of Christmas. In a day or two, Advent will be over and Christmas will be here! With much excitement, we will welcome the birth of our savior, “For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the governm...
A short time ago, the world was shocked by the horrendous attacks in Paris, France, and in Mali on the African continent as well as uncovering a plot for a similar attack in Brussels. These atrocities were planned and committed in the name of a religion. That religion is Islam, a religion of the Middle East. But these events, as we all know, have little or no basis in Islam. Over the years I have known a goodly number of people from the Middle East, Muslims as well as Christians, and none of them that I have known would have ever perpetrated...
It was Christmas Eve in “No man’s land!” “No Man’s Land” is a phrase used for turf that hasn’t been taken over by an opposing army or troupe. It is usually deemed necessary to be occupied by those in authority in order to keep the enemy away from your own camp or headquarter’s tent. The time was World War I. A most unusual and wonderful thing happened on a battlefield where no one had taken control. Battle weary men in their trenches began to sing: “Silent Night, Holy Night, All is calm, all is bright.” As they concluded their harmonious so...
“Then Jesus asked, ‘Were there not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? Was none of them found to return and give praise to God…”- Luke 17:17-18a Have you ever noticed that “thank you” has become a way to end transactions and conversations? At the store the cashier says “thank you, come again” and we reply “okay, thanks.” In conversations or phone calls we might end with a “well, thanks a lot.” This can also be true when it comes to saying “thanks” on Thanksgiving. We offer a perfunctory “thank you” to God so that we can ge...
I carry my phone everywhere. Sometimes I use it to make calls, but mostly I use its other features. I have a Bible on it, and I appreciate having the scriptures with me all the time. But mostly I live by the calendar. Lately the phone has been trying to be helpful, telling me that I should leave for my next event, and that “Traffic is light.” I live by many calendars. My tax year runs from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31. The programs in my church go from September to May. I go to the stores, and I see what the next “shopping” holiday is, from Halloween to ...
