The Blackfoot Valley's News Source Since 1980
The Blackfoot Valley's News Source Since 1980
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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...
There are jokes about it everywhere. There are memes on social media, conversations at the bars, and everywhere in-between. Wonder what I'm talking about this time? Well, it's decorating for Christmas too early and the timelines we "should" be following when it comes to this sort of thing....thing. There seem to be very strong opinions one way or the other. There are those decorators who love this time of year and can't wait for the Christmas lights, trees, and hoopla. Then,...
It's October, almost November, and what that means for most of the country is fall, autumn. Pretty leaves changing colors and a briskness in the air. For those of us in Lincoln, Montana, and surrounding areas, what it really means is that Old Man Winter is knocking at our door. We were all reminded of it last week when we had our first "official" snowfall of the season. I happened to be traveling for my annual North Carolina trip and teaching at the Southeastern Animal Fiber...
Q: I believe that if all of our politicians could get on the same page we could reach world peace. With the scientific advances and expanded knowledge that have been made in the last 100 years, why is this so hard? It's frightening to stand by and watch our nation die. - W.A. A: Our hope is not in a political party. It's not in social improvement, for we have some of the greatest social institutions in the world, yet the world becomes more lawless. Education is not the answer...
As I’ve been talking and reconnecting with people these past two weeks, there seems to be a common theme among the conversations. Things are changing. Well, of course things are changing. It’s the way life works, and everything is always changing. But what I find interesting about this change that’s been coming up in conversation is that we’re bouncing back. We’re coming back to things we knew. We’re choosing differently and many are starting to come together, rather than...
Q: Will a person who dies ever live again? - L.D. A: When we've been to a funeral, for a few moments we're solemn and thoughtful. Perhaps we ask, "Is this the end?" Someday we'll be taken out to the cemetery, and someone will say a few words over us. No matter how final it seems, we're prone to ask, "If a man dies, shall he live again?" The answer from the Bible is a resounding yes. The cross and the resurrection of Christ offers everyone eternal life with Him. This brings us...
We all have this notion that things are black and white, right or wrong, or ‘my way is better and your way can’t possibly be right.’ But, what if I told you just because your way works, doesn’t make it, or you, right or wrong? Simply put, it’s what has and does work for you. People have ways of cooking, parenting, cleaning house and even stacking wood. Everyone believes their way is right, the be-all-end-all. And it might be - for them. But not everyone’s way is the right w...
Q: My dear mother is lamenting her life away as she battles with two of her three children about the importance of choosing the right mate for life. She pleads with them the importance of establishing homes that will be centered on the Lord. My brother and sister think her views are too old-fashioned. How can something this important become "out-of-date"? - M.O. A: The home is the foundation of any society. But something is wrong with many of our homes. We've never had more...
Q: What does the Christian message mean to say that there is a cost to following Jesus? Didn't Jesus pay the price? - C.F. A: God has paid the greatest debt we will ever incur, and once we understand the incredible sacrifice He has made for us, we will be compelled to turn to Him in obedience and love. Many people want the benefits of their faith, but they hesitate at the cost of discipleship. To be a disciple of Jesus means to learn from Him, to follow Him. The cost may be...
There’s been a lot of talk about student loan relief lately. There are those who are for it, those who are against it, and some who haven’t totally weighed in on the subject. I do have my own beliefs about it - and an opinion - of course. President Biden has come up with a plan that would forgive $10,000 of student debt, which is great for those who still hold student loans. Who it’s not great for are those who have never gone to college, those who have paid their stude...
Q: My sister's very intelligent daughter is working her way through college and has turned her back on God and believes everything the professors teach concerning social matters. I often wonder if this is the delusion mentioned in the Bible. - D.C. A: The Bible plainly teaches that one of the characteristics of the end of this age is that people will develop a capacity for delusion rather than the truth. The scientific revolution has produced an overemphasis on the secular...
Life is changing, there’s no way around it. It changes each day. Sometimes those changes are small and incremental, while other times, they are a wham, bam, thank you, ma’am, knock you off your feet, welcome to your new reality kind of change. Sometimes, you’ve known the change is going to happen. You know you’re starting a new job, a new venture, moving to a new place, starting school or finishing school. Sometimes, it comes without warning. A new boss has arrived and is...
Let’s face it, we’re always trying to live up to someone’s expectations. Some of those expectations are our own, some of them are from others and still other expectations are those imposed by the society in which we live. There are expectations that are realistic, those that are not and those that fall somewhere in-between. If you think about it, we’ve been trying to live up to someone’s expectations, somewhere, since we were very young. Some of us even try to live up to the...
Q: I watch the needless wars that accomplish nothing; they only end in gruesome death. Then I wonder what hope there is for a man who has lived a life of sin like I have and now am facing the reality of death with no possibility to make amends for a life ill lived. - L.S. A: The Bible teaches that all of mankind is rushing toward death. Even though wars rage around the globe, it does not increase death because death comes to every generation. Everybody dies. God's Word teaches...
Q: I watched a documentary in school about the "tales" of the Bible and the afterlife. The one that bothered me the most was the lie about there being many roads to Heaven and that because Hell is a fictional place, there are no roads to this awful place. Most of the students believed the documentary over the Bible. Didn't Jesus speak of Hell often? - T.R. A: Many answers about life after death are deceiving and will lead people right into Hell; the very place they are told...
Q: Why do people resent the message of Christians today that Jesus is the answer? Surely they cannot believe that the world will ever find a way out of the mess that the world is in today. - D.D. A: The world is in unending conflict. Lawlessness is in conflict with the lawful. Intrigue and dishonesty are in conflict with truth and honesty. Intolerance is at odds with tolerance and human understanding. Lust and pleasure are in conflict with propriety and purity. Godlessness is...
