The Blackfoot Valley's News Source Since 1980
The Blackfoot Valley's News Source Since 1980
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Q: Is it true that Jesus Christ is intolerant (or narrow), as some Christians claim? - I.J. A: In loving, compassionate intolerance Jesus says, "Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction... [and] narrow is the gate... which leads to life, and there are few who find it" (Matthew 7:13-14). Intolerance seems to many a divisive word. But consider the intolerance of a pilot who maneuvers his plane through the storm, realizing...
One day it just hits you that time is moving fast, barreling forward and it isn't waiting for you. Nor will it stop. It makes me wonder why I, and probably so many others, keep putting things off. Not just things, but important things, and often people, too. Well, the truth is I don't so much wonder why I do it. I know the reason, but to say it's a good reason would be a lie. The truth of the matter is there really is no good reason or excuse to do so. We put things off with...
Q: My mother claims to be a Christian but there is no evidence of it at home. How can this be? - B.M. A: Living for Christ in the home is the acid test for any Christian. It's far easier to live an excellent life among our friends when we're putting our best foot forward and are conscious of public opinion, than it is to live for Christ at home. Our own family circle knows whether Christ lives in and through us. A true Christian will not give way at home to bad temper, impatie...
Q: When I was young, my Sunday school teacher helped the class memorize an Old Testament passage when the world was very wicked: "Everyone did what was right in his own eyes" (Judges 21:25). When I was little I couldn't quite imagine that kind of living, but doesn't it seem that the world has regressed? This verse describes our world today. - W.R. A: When everyone does what is right in his own eyes, there is no possibility of order and peace. Too many people today feel that mo...
It's always amazing to me the people I meet while I'm traveling and teaching, and the lessons I learn from them along the way. This past weekend I was in Farmington, Utah teaching at the Great Basin Fiber Arts Fair. It's my second year teaching at this event, and it seems each year I'm there, I meet some of the most amazing people and reconnect with ones I see only at festivals. Some will say it's the teacher who is supposed to teach, but often I find I can learn as much from...
We've all heard the phrase, "Practice Makes Perfect," and it's one that has impacted my life over the years. Recently, while listening to one of my favorite podcasts, I heard it in a different way. It's a quote by Art Williams, author of Pushing up People. It says: "Remember, before you can be great, you've got to be good. Before you can be good, you've got to be bad. But, before you can be bad, you've got to try." It's essentially saying the same thing as practice makes...
Q: I've struggled with my spiritual life, examining every form of faith, every god, every proverb, every church, and every truth. I've concluded the best way to get to Heaven is to practice each of these theologies and patterns to cover the bases. I believe that the true God will accept this effort and allow me into Heaven when the time comes. The effort certainly speaks for itself, more than those who run after every imaginable evil. At least my thoughts are centered on...
Q: No wonder Christmas is a more favored holiday than Easter. Christmas speaks of a new life [the infant Jesus] that brought joy. Easter brings thoughts of death [His gruesome death], yet there is the new life found in resurrection, which is curious. What does the Bible verse mean when it says that death is swallowed up in victory? - B.I. A: Think about the holes children make when they dig in the sand on the seashore. When the waves come in, the holes are swallowed up by the...
As spring has finally made an appearance and the snow begins to melt, the roads we drove all winter are starting to become dryer and more wide open. Open roads make me want to get out, drive, see and do things. In the winter, especially if you drive Flesher pass, the snow is built up all around you. It's difficult to see out the window to the expanse the Blackfoot Valley has to offer. I feel so closed in, claustrophobic and trapped. It's when I can see for long distances from...
On the choppy waters of the Bay of Bengal, somewhere between Rangoon and the northeast coast of India, a ship packed with migrant workers returns to Andhra Pradesh. One of the workers stares out at the waves and has a dream about the 2-year-old son he hasn’t seen since birth. The dream is filled with colors—and promise. When he returns to his village, the man requests a meeting with the elders. Although he is low in the caste system, the father declares his son to be the chosen one of the village. After much time in the sma...
In the pantheon of political attacks on sitting legislators, probably none is more damaging than the charge that they've lost touch with the people back home. If they're in Congress, it's usually couched as having caught "Potomac Fever"; in a state legislature, that they don't care about the views of the people who put them in office. The ranks of ex-legislators are filled with people who faced this. Even Abe Lincoln, who served a single term in Congress, was accused as a fres...
Q: I read a lot about blending various faiths from around the world and many support a one-world religion. Years ago, this was frightening to some, but now people from all faiths are coming on board as "people of faith." We're told that we should concentrate only on the common ground of our beliefs, which is to be the best we can, do the best we can, and love others. The world says this is what can bring humanity together. Is there room in Christianity for this kind of...
Is it just me, or has the world - and by world I mean everything - seemed really heavy? I'm not just talking about lately, I'm talking about in general for the last several years? I think I've noticed it before, but it's really hitting home for me even more lately. There always seems to be some sort of controversy, some tragedy or some new threat being thrown at us. When I visit with close friends and family, it continually feels like there is more illness, death and...
Q: It's surprising to see young people fighting for social action and at the same time completely steeped in the pursuit of self-pleasure. It doesn't seem that these two lifestyles can work together. – S.A. A: Human nature seeks to please itself. When something brings pleasure, we are inclined to call evil good, even if we know that down deep it is dead wrong. To make ourselves feel better when things go wrong, we blame others. Evil cleverly disguises itself as good, and human...
Q: My teenagers think their mother is quite old-fashioned because of my warnings about pornography. The culture has done a very bad thing by teaching young people that there is nothing wrong with obsessing about sensual images, cleverly changing the meaning of words to take the sting away. - P.P. A: Pornography is both a symptom and a cause of the widespread immorality and corruption of modern society. It reaches people of all age levels through a multibillion-dollar industry...
In 1841, a physically imposing, twenty-three year-old Frederick Douglass leaned against the rail of a ferry headed for Nantucket. He contemplated the wake widening out behind him and second-guessed his decision to travel after three years of trying to remain inconspicuous as a runaway. But he had been invited by a group of abolitionists to attend a rally on Nantucket Island. The Fugitive Slave Act was still in force and Frederick risked being captured and a sure return to...
Q: I've had a lot of sorrow in my life and it seems my friends are weary of my troubles. I suppose others have problems equal to mine but for me it can't get worse. My family tells me that I shouldn't share my troubles because it drives people away. How does one go about as though nothing is wrong? Isn't that dishonest? - N.F. A: There are anguishing scenarios of human suffering. All one has to do to hear the cries of the hurting is to listen to the news for just a few...
Brad's idea of a good time is to swim across the lake at the base of the Grand Tetons, then hike to the top peak and back again on the same day. Sometimes his wife Sheila will join him for the hike portion. He's also summited with his two daughters, ages 19 and 15. They climb frozen waterfalls in the winter and ski the backcountry. In the summer they do 100-mile bike races together and afterward hold family pull-up contests on an abandoned trellis 30 feet above a sandy river....
This week I'll be traveling, and for the first time in a very long time (three years to be exact), I'll be "heading home." I'm excited for the trip and the opportunity to spend some quality time with my mom, and in the sunshine. She says it's been cool there but let's be honest, her cool is Lincoln's spring, heading towards summer. I was going to bring my swimsuit, but instead she said I should bring a sweater. I'll bring both, just in case... This trip will take me back to...
One of the most often used behavioral descriptors today is Attention Deficit Disorder, which basically means unable to sit still or focus for longer than a few minutes. All parents know that ADD worsens when chores or homework are involved. And if we're honest with ourselves we all suffer from Attention Deficit if the task at hand is something we are not interested in, like say counting the stars in the universe. Most of us would drift off into somnambulism in less than a few...
Well, we’re a week into 2023. I’m happy to report I haven’t broken any New Year’s resolutions, but that’s mostly because I didn’t make any this year. Instead, I opted to follow the quote I found on Facebook from Victoria Erickson, author of Rhythms & Roads. It reads: “Just a reminder that you don’t have to make resolutions. Or huge decisions. Or big proclamations. You can just set some sweet intentions and take each day as it comes.” I like this approach to the new year much...
Q: How troubling to hear talking points about social justice standards defined by identity, diversity, and social action. This is causing confusion in areas of education, public service, and even in churches, saying that all people are basically good and deserve to live as they like regardless if it hurts anyone else; and that preaching against sin is robbing people of their individual rights to live free from any imposed standard. Is there an answer? - T.S. A: Many people who...
In May 1869, John Wesley Powell, a former Union Army major who had lost most of his right arm in the Battle of Shiloh, led 10 explorers in launching four heavy wooden boats loaded to the gunwales with 10 months of supplies. Three of the boats were made of oak, more suitable for cruising lakes than busting through rapids. None of the men were experienced boatmen. The one-armed captain of the crew had maps with gaps in them. Still, it was the grandest expedition since Lewis and...
It’s been almost a month since I’ve written a column. I’ve had a lot come at me in these last few weeks. Some good, some bad, a lot scary, some that’s tested me and I know there is more coming with the new year. Some of the things over the last couple of weeks have made me realize there are things we need to be strong and do on our own, and then there are the things that, if we’re lucky, we can rely on the strength of others to help us through. Sometimes that strength...
Q: I hear more news commentators proclaim that the world's in a real mess with no answers on the horizon, completely dismissing that Jesus is the answer. Yet much of the world still celebrates the birth of Jesus while denying who He really is. - C.C. A: The human race continues to rush from crisis to crisis as war clouds hover. One editorial asked, ""What shall we do to be saved?" -- almost the very question the jailer at Philippi asked the Apostle Paul. Sir James Orr, one of...
