When I was principal at a large El Paso high school, we took a group of disadvantaged students to Prude Ranch in the Davis Mountains of Texas to give them some life experiences that many of them were lacking. Some of these kids were “closet” kids—their parents kept them out of the public eye due mostly to embarrassment about having a child with special needs.
The kids responded exceptionally well to the new environment.
I was in the eighth grade in the old American School of Monterrey, Mexico. It was located right in the heart of the city and, except for the street entrance, was closed in on all sides by high adobe walls. A little kindergarten building was located on the gravel playground apart from the main building.
Next to the door on the outside of that little building was a stovepipe.
In the early summer of 1994, my wife and I led sixteen public school art teachers into the rugged Sierra Madre Mountains of Chihuahua, Mexico. The goal was to learn the art of making pottery the way the Paquime Indians did hundreds of years earlier.
We set up camp in a remote area known as Cave Valley; a narrow gorge lined on both sides with Indian cave dwellings and parted in the middle by the meandering Piedras Verdes River.
I was recently reading some biographies of some of my ancestors and came across an account of Edward and Emma Powell Payne. They were born in England in the 1830’s and were married in 1854. Having been converted by some missionaries it was their desire to cross the great waters and join with other believers near the shores of the Great Salt Lake.
There are many swans out there working under cover as ugly ducklings.
Some time ago I attended the annual convention of Mannatech, Inc., a research and development company that markets patented nutritional supplements along with weight loss and skin care products. During the course of the convention we were introduced to a skinny, non-descript but vivacious, feisty, young dark-haired girl by the name of Tzu-chun Lin, of Taiwan.
In order to study at the university level in Taiwan, it is ne ...
In 1976 America celebrated two hundred years as an independent nation. In that same year I served on a church council in El Paso that oversaw many of the activities of a dozen or so congregations of my church. I was given the assignment of coordinating the church’s participation in El Paso’s Bicentennial celebrations.
My Dad was a Chevy man. He could not abide anyone who would dare tell him that a Ford pickup could outperform his Chevrolet. Later in life I was super-surprised to find him driving--and enjoying--a big Ford Galaxy. Had he been wrong all that time?
Where are today’s voices of reason? It seems that no matter the subject, I am right, and you are wrong.
By Pastor Richard Snyder
He is Risen! He is Risen indeed! With these joyous words we introduce the good news of Easter.
Our Savior Jesus Christ, who was crucified, died, and was buried, has arisen from the dead. Death has been defeated. Victory over death and damnation has been assured for all who believe that Jesus Christ is true God who became a true man, who died on the cross to suffer the penalty for our sins, and who has arisen to life again.
We confess our sinful nature, that ther ...
A patch above the left shirt pocket on my Boy Scout uniform says, “National Jamboree, Colorado Springs, Fifty Years of Scouting, 1910-1960.” On my uniform belt buckle, engraved in pewter, are the words, “100 Years of Scouting, 1910-2010.” It recently dawned on me that I have been involved in the Boy Scout movement for more than sixty years!
Except for a couple of years while I was in South America, I have been registered with the Boy Scouts in one capacity or another almost continuo ...
The rule of law is one of the fundamental principles upon which a stable society is built. Unfortunately, the rule of law is oft-times ignored or mis-construed in order for one body politic or one philosophy to prevail over another. Things haven’t changed much in 2,000 years. Take for instance the trial, or set of trials, that sent Jesus Christ to the cross.