Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Sorted by date Results 126 - 150 of 650
Religion columnist Several years ago my sister Susie and I stopped at the Rattlesnake Roundup in Sweetwater, Texas, as we were on our way back from Dallas. We had to go through Sweetwater anyway, so we decided to take some time and experience something we had always heard about. We parked our car and headed down to the world's largest rattlesnake event at the Nolan County Coliseum in Sweetwater. I still can’t believe we did it considering our ultimate fear is being close to a...
Religion columnist I have seen three presidents in my lifetime. I was at the National Prayer Breakfast some years ago in Washington, DC. and heard George W. Bush speak. Then in the 50s, Dwight Eisenhower made a stop in Clovis at Cannon Air Force Base and we attended. But it was when I was very young that I came face to face with Harry Truman. We were in Kansas City at a hotel in downtown Kansas City. My parents were attending a church convention that was headquartered there....
Religion columnist We are approaching graduation season. Winston Churchill once said: “This is not the end, this is not even the beginning of the end, and this is just perhaps the end of the beginning.” I don’t think Churchill was referring to graduations per se but there is some depth to that statement. In reality, graduation is both an ending and a beginning. Whole new experiences and challenges await those graduating from any educational level. There will be gradu... Full story
Religion columnist In some ways faith is an intangible concept. I have faith in many entities and processes I do not understand. Let me explain. Once I walked across the Golden Gate Bridge with Charlie and Buffy. I am afraid of heights but decided I was not going to ruin the entire experience for everyone so I walked across. I had faith that the Golden Bridge would not fall while I was on it. I did not understand how years ago those men built that bridge. I do not understand s...
Religion columnist Thought for this week: We should be modeling Jesus’ message. I learned this principle early on when I was just a child. Once I got in trouble for talking during the Sunday morning service. My Daddy was the preacher and I was sitting in the balcony of the old church at 8th and Hinkle in Clovis, New Mexico. The church was packed that day but the Lord and worshipping Him was the last thing on my mind that Sunday morning. I had just gotten braces on my teeth t...
Religion columnist This Good Friday we are looking forward to Sunday and the significance of Jesus’ overcoming death and the grave. Some great and noteworthy spiritual truths emerge from the characters surrounding the resurrection story. Before Jesus’ ride into Jerusalem, he told the disciples to go into the village, find a donkey and its colt, and bring them to him. The disciples did just that. When they got to Bethpage, the donkeys were there just like Jesus had said. The di... Full story
Religion columnist I heard a remarkable story that has a parallel for this Easter season. More than a half century ago, a young single British nurse served her country faithfully in WWII. She had proven herself to be a loyal and fearless nurse who witnessed the unimaginable as the wounded Britain troops were brought into the makeshift hospitals. The nurse dressed their amputation wounds, lovingly worked to administer medication and gently swabbed the soldiers who were running... Full story
Religion columnist My friend has a beautiful painting of a Cape Cod lighthouse in her office at school. It was on a school trip to Boston several years ago that I first saw a genuine lighthouse. While driving out toward the tip of Cape Cod, my other teacher friends and I stopped explore a lighthouse that was open to visitors. Standing on the sandy hillside surrounded by wooden fencing, the lighthouse silently spoke volumes as I reflected on its withered exterior. The... Full story
Religion columnist Made in the USA ... That is a phrase that seems to be seen less and less on tools, toys, cameras, cell phones and televisions that we buy. Last week I bought an inexpensive plastic measuring spoon set. On the back of the tablespoon measure: Made in China. I was interested in what kinds of things are shipped from overseas for Americans to use. So I began some research. I found that even though goods are made in other countries for American consumers, we...
When Susie and I were in our early teens, our mother and daddy volunteered our family to work during Daddy’s scheduled vacation time in a church camp in Saskatchewan, Canada. Daddy was the camp pastor, Mother took on kitchen duty and Susie and I were just ordinary campers. We had a chance to meet girls from all over Canada and, for several reasons, that camp experience was a milestone in my growing up years. One person that we met there is someone Susie and I still talk about.... Full story
Religion columnist An illustration that I remember my preacher father using during his ministry is a good lesson on reaping what one sows. The story goes that a farmer in a rural area posted a “No Trespassing” sign on one of his fields because some rambunctious neighbor boys had been cavorting on his land, trampling his crops. When the sign went up, one of the high strung teens in the group was so furious that he made a vow to get back at the farmer. The boy with his you... Full story
Religion columnist Merriam Webster Dictionary defines the word assessment in this way: “the evaluation or estimation of the nature, quality, or ability of someone or something.” Today we assess in so many areas of our lives. We assess our car’s performance with an email that sends us all the diagnostics while we used the car. The doctor assesses how our medication is working with blood tests. The coach assesses the games with tapes made during the competition. The teach... Full story
Opinion News last week has reported that cliff side tenants in Pacifica, California, are being coerced into evacuating their homes because the ground outside their back doors is caving into the sea. A state of emergency has been issued and residents are warned to get out before they slip into the sea below. At young ages, Susie and I were members of the primary choir at church. One of the songs we loved so much was “The Wise Man Built His House Upon the Rock.” This was a gre...
Religion columnist News last week has reported that cliffside tenants in Pacifica, California, are being coerced into evacuating their homes because the ground outside their back doors is caving into the sea. A state of emergency has been issued and residents are warned to get out before they slip into the sea below. At young ages, Susie and I were members of the primary choir at church. One of the songs we loved so much was “The Wise Man Built His House Upon the Rock.” Thi...
Religion columnist What about the old adage, “What goes around comes around?” The Bible has much to say about this concept, but it comes from the word of God. Nowhere is it more plain than the story of Jacob. Twin boys, Jacob and Esau, were not in equal standing. The father, Isaac, favored Esau. On the other hand, Jacob was favored by his mother, Rebekah. In the custom of the day, the oldest son received the blessing. So when Isaac was old, decrepit and nearly blind, it was...
Religion columnist I read the biography of Andrew van der Bijl, better known in Christian circles as “Brother Andrew,” many years ago so I recently reread his story. Beginning in 1955, Brother Andrew started smuggling Bibles into Communist countries where the Christians were being persecuted and Bibles were banned. On one of his first visits to Poland, he realized that none of the people he was meeting with in the church had Bibles because the state confiscated all the Bib...
Local columnist We are at the beginning of a New Year and of course people always tend to make resolutions. Many times those resolutions are to change some personal behavior. Then there are those New Year resolutions that address detrimental mental thoughts like worry or fear. I was perusing Amazon the other night and an abundance of these books are on the market these days. The wide variety of self-help books is surprising with authors offering advice and guidance to people...
Religion columnist My mother and Daddy had quite the library. Now this collection of 5000 books is in bookshelves in the room my mother used to occupy in our home. At least once a week, I go back and browse through the old treasures. I have first editions books, one of which is about Willman Carey, the missionary to Africa. Commentaries, Greek textbooks that my parents used in their seminary classes, biographies of the stalwarts of the faith and books on many sermon series...
Religion columnist Jesus had been born and word had spread. The Bible gives us some insight on this event Matthew 2:2: “After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, ‘Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.’” So the Bible tells us that the three wise men went and found baby Jesus and took him gifts. They made the journey to Beth... Full story
Religion columnist During this Christmas season, I await each day “expecting” packages. Let me explain. Much of my Christmas shopping has been done on line, from gifts for the grandchildren to ordering Christmas cards, the deals on the Internet with two day free shipping has great appeal for me. So every day I am anticipating packages, delivered to my porch or small packages in my mailbox. I am expecting my orders and am excited because those orders are important; I want my fa...
Religion columnist My comprehension of Jesus has evolved over the years. I knew him first as the Baby Jesus. At a young age, I knew him as Savior and through the years I have known him as Deliverer, Healer, Adviser and Comforter. He is not the One that has changed — I have only grown in my awareness of him as he has revealed himself to me. Jesus is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. He is not like the lives we lead here on earth that are always changing. The following sto... Full story
link Judy Brandon Columnist I want to challenge my readers to choose gratitude this Thanksgiving. Could it be that self-centeredness causes us not to appreciate the blessings that God gives us each day, the blessings that each of us refuse to recognize? We all begin to think that life is hard when everything does not go our way. I heard a story from a friend who was involved in that episode when the computers went down and she was stranded at the airport in Dallas. The...
It is the season of Thanksgiving. I understand there is much today to be pessimistic about when hearing the world news. The terrible event in Paris rocked the world as people have grieved and sympathized with the terror and loss of life that touched so many families. But in the midst of the gloom this last week, I purposefully decided to focus on giving thanks. I was reminded again of Who is in control and God has the last word, even with all the evil that is going on. So I...
Religion columnist Recently I watched a documentary called “The ‘In’ Crowd and Social Cruelty.” The report addressed the problem of bullying and American children. For some reason, kids seem to dish out abuse to those less accepted. Many adults today had experience with childhood bullies. Some were the bullies. But this documentary was unusual in that it was about teenage girls and the type of bullying they engage in. The experts contended that boys bully by pushing and fig...
Religion columnist Susie and I were preacher’s kids and products of the 50s and 60s. We had many experiences living in a preacher's home, but one such lesson for me centered on baths in the church parsonage. My mother took it very seriously that we were living in the parsonage (which was paid for with tithes). All of our comings and goings were governed with the philosophy that our sustenance physically was provided by God through God's people. That meant that we would have t...
