We don't write papers, we build scrapbooks
We don't write papers, we build scrapbooks
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What do hip-hop artists do on Christmas? (They unwrap). Decorating outside for Christmas is something I enjoy. Some people like to decorate early when it’s still warm. But to me, part of Christmas is decorating in the chilling cold and stringing lights until my fingers are numb and my toes are about to fall off. My wife takes a different approach. But when we put our heads together, we get it done! And, if I don’t say so myself, it’s beautiful all around our house - both inside and out. One o...
About twelve years ago or so, I read that within the next 10 years eighty percent of the general population would be getting their news from their smartphone. I didn't believe it then because I thought that was preposterous. Turns out they were correct. I used to get about 15 magazines a month. I love reading magazines. I also subscribed to a couple of newspapers for daily news. Trouble is, now, by the time the paper comes out, the news is old because I get it on my phone as it happens. But I...
The story goes how one Sunday morning as a husband and wife were getting ready for church, the husband decided he didn’t want to go after all. But his wife was very adamant about him going. After several unsuccessful attempts to convince him he needed to get ready, she finally said, “Listen, I can give you two good reasons why you should go to church today. One, it is Sunday, that means it’s the Lord’s Day, and God wants you in church. And, two, there’s going to be a lot of disappointed people i...
There was a new preacher in town in need of a lawn mower. Someone in his congregation heard about it and brought him over one that was well used. When it came time to cut the grass, the preacher got the mower out and attempted to get it started. When he was unable to do so, he got on the phone and called the guy who gave it to him and explained his dilemma. “Oh,” the guy said, “I forgot to tell you that if you can’t get it going right away you have to cuss at it while you’re pulling on the ro...
Do you believe the Bible to be real? Why is that? Well, there are several reasons. 1) There has never been an archaeology discovery that contradicts the Bible. 2) There has never been a truth of the Bible that if you apply it to your life, your life does not improve dramatically. 3) We have the most accurate and transparent, historically robust account that one can have of the most important figure ever to live in the history of the world. Jesus of Nazareth and the Resurrection is the pinpoint...
My wife and I took the opportunity to get away last week for a little R & R on the beach. The beach is always our favorite destination. It is such a beautiful place to be. It’s not only the warm weather and the beauty of the sun on the water and the waves lapping up on the shore, but also the fact that God gave man the challenge to go forth and subdue the earth He created. As one looks out across the surface of the water, it boggles the mind to consider and imagine all the marine life in the e...
As a seasoned pastor of over 30 years, I have received a variety of comments and advice on how to do my job. Most of it has been positive and encouraging. In fact, October is Pastor Appreciation Month and last Sunday our Board of Elders colluded with our congregation and together they dedicated time at both of our services for people to express their love and gratitude to my wife and me. It was fun and encouraging. Every year as election season closes in, I have found that the vast majority of p...
Every week for the past 18 years or so this column has appeared in this publication. I am grateful Dan Stevens gave me this opportunity so many years ago. It was a dream of mine since high school English class to have a weekly newspaper column. (This is not goodbye). Dan has always encouraged me to exercise my right to free speech and to freely express my opinions. When I first “signed up” he gave me the choice of a weekly column, bi-weekly, or monthly. He told me at that time that he would hol...
My wife had a class reunion last weekend. She got to ride on her class float along with several of her classmates during the Homecoming Parade and later we all got a tour of the high school we both attended. It was quite interesting walking the halls of the old high school. Everything was so much larger back then. A lot has changed, but then again, it all seemed the same. That night her classmates and their spouses gathered for dinner and a time of reminiscing. The stories began to flow and...
With all this nice weather, my wife and I decided it was time to finish up the garden for the year. We picked the few remaining tomatoes, and the peppers, turnips, carrots, and green beans. We pulled all the plants out by the roots and loaded them in the truck for the burn pile. I got the ladder out, and climbed as high as it would take me and reached out as far out as I could possibly reach, and picked the last of the apples and dropped them one at a time to my wife, who was standing below to...
As election day draws nigh yet again, one can’t help but notice that the emotion level in the political realm is reaching new heights. Every four years election tension rises to new levels. I have read that 80% of Americans consider themselves to be Christians. If that number is accurate, that should mean that most of us are in agreement with the Bible, God’s Word to man. In Daniel’s book of prophecy, it says that Daniel prayed to the God of heaven and said: “Praise be to the name of God for...
There’s a business I frequent on occasion that used to have a crash dummy sitting on the counter next to where you paid your bill. The dummy was wearing dark sunglasses, had a cigarette in his mouth, was wearing an orange t-shirt and a red MAGA hat. He didn’t say a word, but he spoke volumes. Sometimes, one can tell a lot about a company by checking out the paraphernalia around the business and reading the notes they have up on the wall. Another place I do business with, has Bible verses and ins...
People are an interesting lot. We live in a time where surveys are taken for just about everything. Most of the time when you buy something online, immediately after you send your order in, a survey arrives in your inbox asking a bunch of questions about your experience in making the purchase. Sometimes there are surveys on top of surveys. I remember reading about the marketing strategy for a certain laundry detergent. The company put together an impressive set of commercials in an effort to con...
FYI - Humpty Dumpty was pushed. My wife and I had the opportunity to spend last weekend in Nashville, Tennessee with our daughter. We made arrangements to stay at an Airbnb. Before we booked, we read the comments section on their website and it was full of nothing but great comments and five-star ratings. Nonetheless, we were a bit skeptical. When we got there, everything was exactly as advertised. Our suite was an upstairs bungalow complete with snacks, water, juice, antiques, and homey-ness....
Now that Labor Day is past, summer is over. The fields are turning ripe unto harvest and many of the farmers have their corn silage chopped, bunked, bagged, and/or in the silo. School is underway again and time is marching on. On the calendar, the measure of a year is from January 1 to December 31. But in reality, a year is lived out from September to September. This is the time of year when we begin to panic a little because winter is just around the corner and we have so much we haven’t got do...
I’ve been a pastor now for about 31 years and we’ve had a lot of unique experiences along the way - mostly at weddings but a few have happened at other events too. For instance, there was one time when a couple were visiting family in Missouri and the husband passed away unexpectedly. His wishes were to be cremated, so his wife had him cremated in Missouri and she brought his ashes back to Illinois. But when she arrived in Illinois, the funeral home called and said they had given her the wro...
A joke I heard this week: The wedding day was fast approaching. Everything was ready, and nothing could dampen the bride's excitement, not even her parents' nasty divorce. Her mother finally found the perfect dress to wear and would be the best-dressed mother of the bride - ever! A week later, the bride-to-be was horrified to learn her new young stepmother had purchased the same dress. She asked her to exchange it, but she refused, "Absolutely not! I'm going to wear this dress. I'll look like a...
When I was in high school, my shop teacher taught drafting, wood-working, small engines, and welding. I took all those classes at different times. One time, a friend of mine backed his dark blue, 1974 Pontiac GTO car into the shop, and another friend lifted a small engine in need of repair out of his trunk and set it on the floor and closed the trunk lid. At that moment, the friend driving the car, tromped down on the gas pedal and burned rubber from the shop floor, out the door, and into the...
What is the difference between a true democracy and a constitutional republic? By definition, a republic is a representative form of government that is ruled according to a charter, or constitution, and a democracy is a government that is ruled according to the will of the majority. Although these forms of government are often confused, they are quite different. In a democracy, the people periodically, by majority, vote at the poll to select rulers. The rulers then have absolute power by...
Summer days and summer nights are a thing to behold. I think if one only gets their groceries from the store, they lose a little of the awe of God’s Creation in watching their food grow. Every year, I stand amazed at how you can put a seemingly dead seed in the ground, cover it with dirt, and it grows and produces fruit. I say seemingly dead, because it only looks dead. There is life inside that seed waiting to grow when it is given the right conditions. Every year I prepare the seedbed for my w...
We have about ten acres of pasture on our farm that I tend to every summer. We run a few head of cattle on them and they always make things interesting. They are very curious animals and are constantly getting into trouble. So far this summer, I have cut the pasture twice in an effort to keep it looking nice and to keep the weeds down and the grass fresh for the calves. In my shed I have a couple of old tractors that I like to play with from time to time. One of them is a 330 International...
“Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic,” (James 3:13-14 NIV). Satan is the prince of this world and any wisdom apart from God’s wisdom, is not wisdom, it’s demonic. It comes straight from the devil himself. And the onl...
Sometimes it’s the simple pleasures in life that mean the most. If you’re a regular reader of this column you may have heard about my love for the Chicago Cubs as a child and how that carried over into adulthood and was passed down to our own children. But, during and after Covid, with the way our country’s politicians politicized everything, including baseball, the game became repugnant to me, and totally lost its appeal. So, I abandoned it. Not intentionally, it just left me disillusioned and...
When I first started thinking about July 4, I looked at the calendar and saw that it was on Thursday this year, so I assumed all the celebrating would be taking place this coming weekend. Boy was I wrong! The celebrating began last weekend and for the most part has been going on all week and is now already mostly over - except for the fireworks. Ever since Francis Scott Key wrote the words to the National Anthem in 1814, fireworks have been a major part of our country’s 4th of July c...
There was a moment when Moses had the nerve to ask God what His name is. God was gracious enough to answer, and the name He gave is recorded in the original Hebrew as YHWH. In order to pronounce it we added the vowels A and an E to get YAHWEH, presumably because we have a preference for vowels but scholars and rabbis have noted that the letters YHWH represent breathing sounds or aspirated consonants. When pronounced without intervening vowels, it actually sounds like breathing. YH (inhale) WH...
