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COP 30: Not all the news was bad

If you paid any attention at all to COP 30, the United Nations Climate Change Conference held last month in Belem, Brazil, you probably know about what didn’t happen: the United States refused to send an official delegation, petro-states led by Saudi Arabia and Russia fought to protect their fossil fuel interests, and the final set of recommendations issued by the conference failed to include a roadmap for the elimination of fossil fuels. But COP 30 was not the total failure some in the media have claimed. True, we are not where we need to be, and the government and business ...

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 ...