Recently I watched a YouTube video in which, among other things, Amazon’s Alexa defined an abortion but then said she did not know the related answer of when a fetus could survive outside a uterus. The video perhaps was entertaining enough in its own right, even if one does not ultimately find technology companies’ liberal bias or the matter of abortion to be at all amusing. more

A blanket of fog beautifully covered the earth Friday morning in the small East Texas corner where I live. Stepping out to breathe in the fog, it was a clear reminder winter is here – the need to embrace it was quite nice after a frenzy of pushing through the holiday rollercoaster and on into the new year. more

I’d been wondering what happened to my youth. Last week Jessica unpacked a box that must have been sealed the day we emptied mom’s attic. And there lay my childhood. A scrapbook from my Cub Scout days – plywood cover secured with leather laces, my name permanently scorched across the cover with a long-gone wood-burner – page after page of pictures, scissored from magazines, of really old cars: Duesenbergs, Cords, Packards, Studebakers, Excelsiors and the like, cars that were already old when I wasn’t. more

An article written by Kate Shellnutt in “Christianity Today” claims that African Americans are the only racial group that see the Bible as more important for the moral fabric of the nation than the constitution. more

The word normal is defined as conforming to a standard, expected, settled or day-to-day. It’s a state everyone strives to get-back-to after the holidays, vacations and major events. As much as we love the breaks, returning to a somewhat normal atmosphere can be difficult, or it can be embraced and loved, especially after the New Year has begun. more

As 2019 begins, the federal government remains partially shut down. Proposals are still surfacing and meetings are still being arranged, but as I write this it looks like it could go on for a while (by the time this is printed, it could all be over). One of the central points of disagreement is funding for the border wall, which is a highly controversial sticking point. It will be difficult to reach an agreement, and the longer the shutdown goes on, the more the economic costs will mount. more

THE consensus from some local retailers is one of relief as we move on into the New Year. Sales for the month of December started out slow as locals competed with on-line purchases, but true to Kilgoreites’ nature, they dug in and offered it all to pull in the last minute sales. more

As you may know, the congregation I serve, Pilgrim Lutheran Church, co-sponsors a quarterly community blood-drive with the Kilgore Rotary Club. Not every time but regularly I mention the next drive in a column, either weeks before or the day of the drive, as I here mention the upcoming January 19 drive. more

We have just finished celebrating Christmas day, yet the season of Christmas will not end until epiphany Sunday, January 6th. What, exactly, is the theological backbone of Christmas? The birth of the messiah who will occupy David’s throne forever? Yes. The coming of the true King of the earth and Lord of Glory? Absolutely. But there’s a simpler answer that permeates all the above answers: God has become human for our salvation from our sinfulness and our shame. In Jesus Christ, we see a God who comes to rescue us. more

It was during the '70s an American television series called "The Waltons" was a favorite pasttime to watch. The series was about a family in rural Virginia during the Great Depression and World War II. The show was filled with life lessons regarding hard work, honesty and high moral standards. And no matter the circumstances throughout the day, the evening always ended with each family member telling each other good night and ending with “good night, John Boy” the oldest of the siblings played by Richard Thomas. more