Eastern Adams County's Only Independent Voice Since 1887
Eastern Adams County's Only Independent Voice Since 1887
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“If I walked through the doors of your church, the walls would fall down.” This statement, or ones similar to it, have been said to me on more than one occasion over the years that I’ve pastored our church. By saying this, the person is implying that they feel they are not worthy to enter a place they deem too good for them. Recently, two men were working at our church in a place where there is no light. While holding a flashlight, one said to the other within range of my hearing, “This must be where they keep the sinners...
I recently submitted an Easter article to The Journal that was mistakenly printed early in last week’s edition – and with the incorrect title. When I emailed editor Brandon Cline about it, he apologized and offered to reprint it in this edition along with the correct title. I suggested rather that I submit a new article. He agreed with that ideal, and so here’s my Easter article version 2.0. As I sat down to write another article, I thought how writing a new version is just like Easter itself, for God is into new versi...
One of the most famous – or infamous – sermons in American history was preached in 1741 by a Massachusetts minister named Jonathan Edwards. The title was “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” It was the quintessential “fire and brimstone” type sermon in which judgment and hell are stressed. As we observe Easter this Sunday, I think it is the time we can celebrate God’s love. For it was God’s love that was the motivation for his sending Jesus into the world, as we are told in the well-known Bible verse: “For God so lov...
Thanksgiving is a wonderful American holiday. But as we celebrate it in 2018, we do so as a deeply divided country. This has been very evident with the recent midterm elections. Although the two main political parties seem to be drawing further and further apart in their visions of what the future of the United States of America should look like, it is sometimes pointed out that what unites us far surpasses what divides us. I believe this is true, but what can be done to reverse the widening chasm of what continues to tear...
Lind Calvary Assembly of God This Sunday is Easter. It’s also April Fools’ Day. I couldn’t remember when these two ever coincided, but then I found out why. The last time Easter fell on April 1 was in 1956, which happened before I was born. As we observe these two simultaneously, it draws an obvious contrast. April Fools’ Day is a light-hearted time of playing practical jokes on family and friends, whereas Easter deals with the sober implication for all humanity of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. But even wi...
Years ago when my wife Kim and I lived in China, we would gather with other Americans during the Thanksgiving holiday to celebrate. But it was difficult to find the typical foods associated with Thanksgiving, such as turkey and pumpkin. Because both the peculiar-looking bird and the orange-colored squash are native to North America and not China, they are very uncommon among Chinese foods. As Thanksgiving arrives this year, it is once again evident how much the holiday is a part of American culture. Not only is it the...
One of the most remarkable archeological discoveries in history occurred in 1922 when the tomb of the Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamen was unearthed. For over 3,000 years, the concealed tomb hid an elaborate coffin containing the corpse of the boy king. Buried along with the coffin were a treasure-trove of artifacts, including furniture, dismantled chariots, jewelry and musical instruments. Popularly known as King Tut, museums around the world have delighted visitors with many of these ancient relics from his tomb. In stark...
President Hillary Clinton . . . or will it be President Donald Trump? After a long presidential campaign, in just a few days we will find out who our country will elect as its 45th president. The choice between the two candidates is as stark as any presidential election in our nation’s history, as the candidates’ visions for the future could not be more different. Both sides of the political divide have grave concerns about what will happen if the other side takes control of the White House. But at this pivotal point in his...
In recent years American culture has developed a fascination with zombies. Although the subject of zombies has been found in literature, film and television for many decades, the interest has reached a new level. One of the most-watched cable TV series in the last few years has been The Walking Dead about a post-apocalyptic world overrun by zombies. And a new phenomenon called “zombie walks” has appeared in which people walk through a city dressed up as zombies for various reasons. In 2011 the U.S. government officially cap...
One of my favorite movies is the holiday classic “It’s a Wonderful Life” starring Jimmy Stewart. The story follows Stewart’s character George Bailey who has become unhappy with his life because it has not turned out the way he planned, and he resents the things, which have prevented him from fulfilling his lifelong dreams. After experiencing an unfortunate turn of events, George becomes distraught and suicidal. However, with some heavenly intervention by an angel named Clarence, he comes to see that his life—rather than bein...
In what many are calling a “historic” ruling, last week the U.S. Supreme Court legalized gay marriage in all 50 states. Although those who support the homosexual movement celebrate this victory, I wonder about the social, religious and political consequences. Now that the definition of marriage—which all human cultures have had for all of human history— has been redefined, what will prevent it from being redefined again? We have taken the first step down the proverbial “slippery slope.” For example, do we allow for three o...
One of my favorite things about living in Eastern Washington is the weather. It’s my opinion that there are very few parts of the country that can compare with the Inland Northwest’s weather. Even the places I’ve lived overseas cannot match what we are blessed with here in our little corner of the world. Along with the dry climate and the fact that we experience relatively few weather-related disasters (tornados, floods, hurricanes, etc.), I love the change of seasons. As the summer now draws to an end with shorter days and c...
Last month I had the difficult experience of saying goodbye to a good friend who was part of my life for 11 years. That friend was my dog Copper. Our family adopted her from the Humane Society in Moses Lake back in 2003. She was a golden retriever/chow mix, and her name fittingly came from her coat color. Over the years she was usually my constant companion, whether on walks around town, during days at the church, or during my work at the WSU Lind Dryland Research Station where she loved having the run of the world. The day...
This past weekend the new film “Son of God” was released in theaters around the country. The producers are the same who created last year’s hit mini-series The Bible. While the mini-series tackled the entire Bible, Son of God focuses exclusively on the life and ministry of Jesus. I have always enjoyed Bible-based films. It’s fascinating to watch visual portrayals of the stories. I remember growing up seeing a number of these movies broadcast on TV, usually around Easter. Charlton Heston in The Ten Commandments and the all...
As I watched recently – along with the rest of the community – the demolition of the old high school building, I thought of how sad it was to witness. If the building had been remodeled, it could have been a centrally located showpiece for our community. But when those plans failed and it increasingly digressed into an eyesore, its ultimate fate became long overdue. Several thousand students graduated from the old high school in its 70 years of use. The teachers and administrators used the classrooms and hallways to edu...
Lind Assembly of God Church About 15-20 years ago, when many things in our society were going digital, it became common to label them with the letter “e,” for example e-mail, e-business, e-book, and e-banking (“e” of course standing for “electronic”). Starting with the iMac in 1998, the company Apple has used the letter “i” to market products that we’ve all become very familiar with, such as the iPhone, iPod, iPad and iTunes. Originally, the “i” meant “internet,” but it has come to represent other words like intelligent, i...
“Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: ‘A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.’” When I first heard the news of the school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut, I experienced the emotions of shock, sadness and grief for the innocent lives lost and the families forever broken. Added to the horrific event is that it happened during the Christmas season, a special time in our cul...
I recently performed a wedding in our church for a young couple. Though I have officiated many more funerals than weddings during my years of pastoral ministry, I always count it a privilege to participate in the ceremony of couple joining together in marriage. It’s wonderful to experience the love, joy and hope of the occasion. It’s sad, therefore, to think that statistics tell us the divorce rate in our country for first-time marriages is around 50 percent. This causes me to question what happens to half the marriages that...
During the 17 years that I have been a part of the Lind and Ritzville communities, there have been very few issues as contentious and divisive as the recent matters concerning the school cooperative and the hospital controversy. What makes this time even more difficult for our towns is that these two issues are happening simultaneously. While I heartily agree that they are of importance – for they deal with both our children and the quality of life for the residents in our towns – I am troubled by how relationships bet...