Breaking News

Christmas cookies can be a mine field of flavors

Well, it’s that time of year. Cookies start appearing everywhere, on your desk, in your mailbox, in trays all over the place. So many cookies, so many options. All (almost) Christmas cookies look delicious. They just don’t always taste that way, at least for me. Call me Ebenezer ...

Hope for a bright future, is no myth

Last Sunday Lynnda and I attended the Christmas Luncheon at the West Virginia Radio and TV Museum and Hall of Fame at Huntington. One of the presenters mentioned, “One of my claims to fame is, I was there and saw Chuck Yeager (the first man to break the sound barrier) fly his jet under the Southside Bridge in Charleston.” I have heard the story of Chuck Yeager flying his jet under the Southside Bridge over the Kanawha River in Charleston. It always sounded like folklore or a legend to me. Yeager confirmed in an interview, he flew an Airforce P-80 Shooting Star jet under ...

Lead us not into temptation

By Mark Wilmoth Did you ever wonder why Jesus taught his disciples to pray, “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one” (Matthew 6:13, NIV)? Why should that prayer be necessary? After all, why would a holy God who does not want his children to sin ever lead them into temptation? Besides, doesn’t James 1:13-14 say “When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed.” Part of the problem in ...

Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors

When a group recites the Lord’s prayer together, the group leader may say, “Let’s use ‘trespasses” or “Let’s use ‘debts,” as in “forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.” Both words work, but in Matthew’s account of the Lord’s prayer (Matthew 6:9-13), Jesus used the word “debts.” “Debts” reminds us that we owed God obedience and He didn’t get it. We abandoned His path and struck out on our own. Maybe it’s easier to understand this principle if we think about someone whose actions or words wounded deeply. They “owe” us. They have taken ...

Curiosities of the Mountains

The first observers called them ancient ruins, ancient remains, antiquities, curiosities of the mountains. We know them today as Indian Mounds, or locally as the Marietta Earthworks. The word “curiosity” conveyed the sense of awe and mystery prevalent at the time. These were not the ...

Bitter words

We talk about how divided our society and political discourse are today. Avoid discussing politics at family gatherings, we say; don’t want to trigger an outburst from Aunt Edna or Cousin Eddie. This pales compared to the deep divisions during the Civil War: North vs South, Slave vs Free, ...